Pucks and Pitchforks
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New Jersey Devils: Peter DeBoer Is Not The Right Choice Moving Forward

By Nick Villano

NEWARK, NJ - OCTOBER 16: Head coach Peter DeBoer of the San Jose Sharks gives instructions during the game against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on October 16, 2015 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - OCTOBER 16: Head coach Peter DeBoer of the San Jose Sharks gives instructions during the game against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on October 16, 2015 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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New Jersey Devils fans learned a name from their past became available again. Peter DeBoer would not be the right coach for this team as currently constructed.

Yet another head coach has been let go from his job, with the San Jose Sharks firing Peter DeBoer after a rough start. At one point, the Sharks were lower in the standings than the New Jersey Devils. They’ve bounced back, but they’re still five points out of a playoff spot. Unlike some of the other firings this season, the Sharks say this was strictly because of the team’s performance on the ice.

DeBoer is a good coach, we will start with that. The Devils have an opening behind the bench after they fired John Hynes. Before DeBoer went to the Sharks, he was the head coach of these New Jersey Devils. In fact, he brought this franchise to its last Stanley Cup Finals run. Then, he had to deal with something no coach could have made work.

The Devils lost Zach Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk and David Clarkson (an underrated loss) in two offseasons. Then, the Devils became hamstrung by an aging Martin Brodeur. The year he was fired, he had Adam Henrique leading the team with 43 points. Michael Cammalleri was a complete bust of a signing. Patrik Elias, Scott Gomez and Jaromir Jagr we’re trying to make things work in their twilight years.

We can say that DeBoer wasn’t given the best hand in his last years here, but we also don’t think DeBoer is right for this team in the future.

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DeBoer is a coach that likes to rely on star players to build things up. During the Devils Stanley Cup run, Ilya Kovalchuk was playing 24:26 of ice time per game. Right now, the forward leader in TOI is Jack Eichel with 21:37. In 2011-12, Parise also played 21:29 per game.

His defense philosophy was to spread things out. The five main defensemen before Marek Zidlicky came at a deadline deal were all playing between 19-22 minutes per game. Only Anton Volchenkov was playing less than that.

However, the Devils aren’t built like that Devils team. The stars are going to be extremely young and unable to deal with that kind of workload. If Jack Hughes tried to play 21 minutes per game right now, he wouldn’t last before eventually ending up on the IR.

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The Devils need a coach that’s main focus is building young talent. DeBoer needs to go somewhere that’s a finished product. Yes, DeBoer’s system would be an upgrade to what the Devils had before, but it’s about more than that right now. They need someone who’s patient, and willing to let the players make mistakes, but has a good sense to guide them away from those mistakes.

DeBoer is a good coach who’s going to get a good opportunity somewhere, but it’s not going to be here. He was good to the Devils in his relatively short time behind the bench, but a lot of fans are dealing with “ex-girlfriend syndrome”. They remember how happy the 2012 run to the Stanley Cup Playoffs were, and they want that feeling again. We forget the issues we had with him and his handling of some of the young players.

DeBoer will be a good hire for someone else. He’d be a bad hire here, and one that would cause us to be in the same place three years from now when the Devils are finally ready to turn the corner.

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