The New Jersey Devils decided to move on from Mark Recchi and Alain Nasreddine as Lindy Ruff’s assistant coaches. In the past, they’ve leaned on its history to bring in new coaches. Could they do that again?
Coaching will be one of the biggest decisions the New Jersey Devils still need to make this offseason. Lindy Ruff is still technically the head coach, but that could change at any moment. Or it might not. Either way, the Devils need at least two new coaches on the staff for next season. There are a lot of decent options across the hockey universe. Over the past few years, the Devils leaned on those with experience in other franchises. However, that’s what they did with Mark Recchi, and that clearly didn’t work out.
Under Lou Lamoriello, it seemed the New Jersey Devils would constantly go with familiar names to become coaches. The most famous example was when Lamoriello hired Scott Stevens to help him run the bench after the firing of Peter DeBoer. That was a strange situation, but it was the clearest example of Lamoriello’s reliance on hockey people he trusted.
Now, there is a brand new regime in place. Tom Fitzgerald and Ray Shero before him did not rely on the former Devils as Lou did. The ownership group did bring in Martin Brodeur to work in the front office, a move that made perfect sense at the time. When it comes to the coaching staff, leaning on the past isn’t exactly the number one priority when it comes to full-time positions. There are plenty of “guest appearances” from former Devils stars, but when it comes to hiring, the team still leans on personnel from outside the organization.
What former New Jersey Devils players could become current New Jersey Devils coaches?
That might change this offseason. There are some interesting names out there that could be looking to become a New Jersey Devils head coach sooner rather than later.