5 Assets New Jersey Devils Should Target On Toronto Maple Leafs

Sheldon Keefe

Check the headline. We said assets. Sheldon Keefe is absolutely an asset the Devils need to acquire if the Maple Leafs decide they could do better with a different head coach. It does seem like to take the next step, the Leafs need something different. There’s nothing more different than bringing a different voice into the room. Obviously, there are some interesting names on the coaching market right now. Meanwhile, the Devils are still holding on to Lindy Ruff as head coach, but that might be because the Devils are waiting to see what’s available.

The Devils need to jump all over great coaches who become available. That includes Barry Trotz, who is available now. He might not be the best fit, however. He likes to focus on defense and keeping teams off the board. While he would make the Devils a winner, there are other star coaches who would fit better. Keefe would be the best possible fit for the Devils.

We won’t know for a little while what the Leafs are going to do. They still need to conduct exit interviews and figure out what happened. Again, it’s not like last season when the team lost to the Montreal Canadiens, a team they were much better than. It’s definitely not the season before when they were shocked by the Columbus Blue Jackets in a five-game series just to get into the top 16. This season, they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning. They can match talent with the Maple Leafs, only they have the playoff prowess that comes with back-to-back championships.

The Devils can take advantage of a team in transition. The Leafs need to figure out how to win the 2023 and 2024 championships before they have to make a very hard Auston Matthews decision.