New Jersey Devils Still Mulling Over Head Coach Options

Who will be the New Jersey Devils next head coach is a fascinating one. Devils President and General Manager Tom Fitzgerald wants to have a head coach in place before the NHL Draft, which will be held on June 28 and 29 in Las Vegas at the Sphere.

Fitzgerald continues to interview candidates. As documented on Full Press Hockey, the Devils are looking at four candidates: Craig Berube, Jay Woodcroft, Sheldon Keefe, and Todd McLellan. There could be others, like Dean Evason, but those are the leading men in the clubhouse.

Many figured this was the week the Devils were hiring a new head coach. Many are wondering why the process is taking so long. Finding a new head coach is a long one. However, when teams like the Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators, and St. Louis Blues have already named their new head coaches, you have to wonder if the problem of settling on a third option instead of paying for the guy they want is creeping back in.

The Devils interviewed Craig Berube for a long time. He met with ownership, and for a time, he was the leading candidate for the Devils’ job. In fact, Tom Fitzgerald describing what he wanted in a head coach made Berube the ideal man for the job.

With Sheldon Keefe coming on the market, the Devils called and got permission to speak with him. Keefe has a two-year extension that has yet to kick in, and he could decide to recharge and be with his family for the next two years before returning to coaching in the NHL. Many feel the Devils head coaching job is Keefe’s to lose. However, the team could be waiting on Keefe to make a decision if he wants to coach still.

Jay Woodcroft is also a name that continues to be out there. He had an interview with the Devils, and if he is the guy, the Devils probably cannot announce it until his duties with Team Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Championships are finished. Woodcroft is an assistant coach for Team Canada in Prague. He fits Fitzgerald’s criteria for a head coach.

Not to mention, Todd McLellan had two interviews with the Devils. Again, is he the right fit for this group? Are the Devils ready to win within the next two to three years? If he were to get the job, that would be McLellan’s time.

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The Devils have brought in major names for interviews for the head coaching position. But again, it goes back to whether this ownership group wants to pay for a head coach.

On the latest edition of the Full Press Hockey Podcast, Vox Media NHL Analyst Bruce Zeman brought this exact point up.

“Going back to the Devils. Okay, before the Devils settled because that is what they did. Both of us have that confirmed from multiple NHL sources. So they interviewed Peter Laviolette and Gerad Gallant; your sources confirmed that, too? The Devils did not want to pay for those coaches,” Vox Media NHL Analyst Bruce Zeman said. “So they settled on Lindy Ruff. No offense to him, but that’s what they did. Yesterday, the person I was having a conversation with said to me, maybe the Devils are doing that again. Maybe they’re not going to pay for a Berube or a Keefe and they’re going with another third choice because they didn’t want to spend the money.”

If that is the case once, that is why the New Jersey Devils have not announced who will be their next head coach. And that is a problem because the carousel is going to stop and the Devils will be without a seat on the ride and just holding the bag.

At one point, the New Jersey Devils’ head coaching position was clear. Now, it is murkier than it was before. However, the clock is ticking on naming a head coach, or else they could be hiring someone who might not be the best option to guide this team back to championship glory.