New Jersey Devils: Three Head Coaches To Avoid At All Costs
The New Jersey Devils have fired their head coach already this season. They are going to be looking hard for the right one, but a wise decision is pivotal.
There have been six head coaches fired so far this season. That’s a lot and it is only January. Some of them were because of misconduct or personal issues. The New Jersey Devils were one of those teams to fire their head coach. John Hynes is a good man but the reason was fired was because the team wasn’t good. His system was good for the team when they had a rough roster but it wasn’t fitting the personnel that is there now.
They have promoted Alain Nasreddine to be the interim head coach. Things started off poorly for him, but that was expected. It is hard for a guy to step up and implement a new style while the games are still coming in bunches. It took some time but it seems that the Devils are beginning to play much better. They have six wins in their last ten games with a 6-3-1 record over that span. They have turned it around and the relieving of John Hynes along with the Taylor Hall trade both seemed to have changed the way this team plays.
This team needs a system that will allow them to play to their strengths. There are speedy youngsters like Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Nikita Gusev that need to be free. Not every coach has a style that will allow them to do that. For that reason, the Devils need to make sure that if they let Nasreddine go in the offseason they need to have the right guy in place. Avoiding these three free-agent coaches would be a great start:
player. 151. . Coach. Nashville Predators. Peter Laviolette . 1
On Monday night, the Nashville Predators announced that they have parted ways with head coach Peter Laviolette. This comes after the team blew a 2-0 lead to the Dallas Stars in the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day along with a shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night. The Predators have vastly underachieved with the roster they have so the move makes complete sense. They are led by Roman Josi in scoring.
Josi is having a Norris Trophy level season and deserves credit, but he should not be leading this team in scoring. They need their highly paid forwards to step up and be better but instead, their coach paid the price. This is exactly why the Devils should stay away from Laviolette. Everywhere he goes, the team’s offense goes to die.
Yes, he has led the Preds to five playoff appearances, one of which they went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, and a President’s Trophy. He did that on a Preds team that was defense first. Their offensive stars like Fillip Forsberg, Matt Duchene, and Ryan Johanson never really got to their ceiling offensively. If you wanted John Hynes fired for that reason, then wanting Laviolette might be counterproductive.
Laviolette will certainly coach in the NHL again, but he might have to adapt to the times or join a team that needs a defensive structure to win. The Devils need a guy who will come in and get the most out of their current budding stars. The numbers say that wouldn’t happen so the Devils should stay away from this one.
Toronto Maple Leafs. Mike Babcock. 2. player. 116. . Coach
The Toronto Maple Leafs were underperforming as much as any team in the league before they made the decision to fire Mike Babcock. This team is loaded with multiple stars. With players like Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, and Frederik Andersen making up their core, they should be elite. Most general managers in the league would trade their cores for that one. Especially if you ignore the money they make.
Babcock has been a very successful coach in the NHL. He has won Olympic Gold Medals and a Stanley Cup. Beyond those years, he has had some underperforming teams. He gets his players to work hard and play defense. Of course, that is a good thing but it would fit better for a team that doesn’t have the firepower that the Devils have. The things that Maple Leafs fans complained about the most with him are the exact same things that Devils fans said about John Hynes. Since the firing of Babcock, the Maple Leafs have been on fire. They are 8-1-1 in their last ten games.
There are also stories out there about the way Babcock is away from the rink. He doesn’t treat people with respect no matter where they rank in the organization. There is reason to fear that if the Devils hired him it would do way more harm than good to the development of the young players. Obviously, can’t miss guys like Auston Matthews, Nico Hischier, and Jack Hughes are going to still be good, but you can always get more by putting them in a position to succeed. It doesn’t seem that Babcock fits that bill for New Jersey.
Coach. San Jose Sharks. Peter DeBoer. 3. player. 120.
The San Jose Sharks are still to this moment one of the biggest disappointments in the league. They sit near the very bottom of the Western Conference with a record of 19-21-4. This is a team that was in the Western Conference Finals last season and had similar hopes this year. They just haven’t lived up to those expectations and they fired their head coach Peter DeBoer because of it. He was a good coach with the Sharks for a long time now but things weren’t well this season and they needed to do something.
As you probably know, DeBoer is a former head coach of the New Jersey Devils. He coached in 248 games with New Jersey over parts of four seasons. He had a record of 114-93-41. He also led the Devils to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012. He made the playoffs in every full season he was the head coach of the Sharks as well. In one of those years (2016), they made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. He had a good run in both cities but it had to end both times.
The reason he wouldn’t be a good fit for the modern-day Devils is that the Devils just need to move on. They don’t need to be hiring anyone that used to work for them. The league is changing and they need to change with it. They have some great young players that are going to be elite in this league so they need the right guys to come in and help them. DeBoer is a fine coach but bringing him back to New Jersey is not the answer.
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The NHL is a beautiful league but too many teams suffer from recycling the same old coaches. The Devils need to look forward instead of backward. If a recyclable coach becomes available that is the right guy, like Jon Cooper, then they should go after him. If not, they could go the college route or give a new guy a chance to come in and coach. Look at what Mike Sullivan did for the Pittsburgh Penguins during his tenure. DeBoer coming back would seem like this team is going backward so they should probably look ahead to someone new.