3 biggest differences between Maple Leafs and Devils for head coach Sheldon Keefe
The New Jersey Devils pivoted their coaching search this offseason after the Toronto Maple Leafs fired Sheldon Keefe. There is a clear reason why Keefe chose to jump into another head coaching seat despite having a guaranteed salary from the Leafs in the bag.
The New Jersey Devils have enjoyed some timely moves that led to their 5-2-1 start. It hasn’t always been pretty, but the team is at the top of the NHL standings, and they are on pace for 113 points. While there has been some points that need to be addressed, including Jack Hughes’ production, recovering from injuries to Luke Hughes, Santeri Hatakka, and Brett Pesce, and Jacob Markstrom has been up and down while the defense has struggled in some moments. Even with all that said, there is so much more good than bad.
Keefe is enjoying a great start to his Devils coaching career, and he’s hitting most of the right buttons. The Devils have been able to bounce back from a loss, never losing two games in a row.
When looking at the situation Keefe is facing now compared to what he had with the Toronto Maple Leafs, there are a few stark differences leading to his current state. He has some players he can rely on that didn’t exist in Toronto. For one, it starts with the game’s most important position, one the Devils made it a point to upgrade this offseason.
1. Devils have solid goaltending
It just sounds weird to say the Devils have solid goaltending, but that’s the case right now. The Devils can rely on Jacob Markstrom to play pretty much every night, and Keefe is taking advantage of that. Markstrom started six of the Devils eight games. Jake Allen has been fantastic behind him, but we’d expect his play to be limited until there is some understanding about what his needs will be later in the season. Allen has a trade condition that if he plays more than 40 games this season, the Devils have to send a second-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens.
We know how much Tom Fitzgerald loves his second-round picks, so we see the Devils playing it safe with Allen. So, the Devils will go forth with Markstrom, and Sheldon Keefe is more than happy with that plan. Even with some stinker performances on his resume, Markstrom is still stopping shots at a .902 clip.
Over the past three years, the Maple Leafs started eight different goalies. There was never a true starter in Toronto. Every year, it seemed a different player stepped up, and Kyle Dubas made another decision to go cheap to take a chance at the position. There was no solid option.
Only Joseph Woll and Jack Campbell had a save percentage at all strengths over .910 over that three-year span. If we take out the special teams, the number jumps to six of eight. That brings us to our next point.
2. Devils penalty kill has been phenomenal
The Devils have one of the best penalty kills in the NHL. They’ve stopped opposing power plays at a 90.5% clip. The Devils have only given up two power-play goals this season. There is only one team in the entire league (Dallas Stars) that has given up fewer. There are two factors at play here. For one, the Devils aren’t going to the penalty box that often. However, the biggest factor is just how good this penalty kill has been.
The Devils’ PK has been on the ice for close to 38 minutes this season, and Natural Stat Trick says they’ve given up just eight high-danger chances. Only two teams have given up fewer. When factoring in the fact the Devils also have four high-danger chances shorthanded, which gives the team 33 percent of the chances when they are short-handed.
The Devils’ penalty kill is often called a “power kill.” They are aggressively looking to make a play. Whether that play stopped a shot or started a chance the other way didn’t matter. A play is a play in Sheldon Keefe’s system.
Last season, the Maple Leafs had the 10th worst penalty kill in the league, giving up a goal on roughly 24 percent of the other team’s chances with the man advantage. During Keefe’s five years with the Leafs, they were 14th in the league on the PK at 79.6%. The Devils are just working with a much better unit in their own zone.
3. Actual depth on defense
The word “actual” is doing a ton of heavy lifting here. There was always the perception of depth on the Toronto Maple Leafs defense. They would get guys like Mark Giordano to sign for the veteran’s minimum just so they could play with their childhood team. Then, they would become regulars because they would either outplay their competition or injuries would impact the team negatively.
During Keefe’s time in Toronto, they were forced to play 34 defensemen at least two games. That’s somehow more than the Devils, who seemingly had a rolodex of defensemen play for this franchise over the last five years. Names like Jordie Benn, Martin Marincin, and Victor Mete did nothing to earn an opportunity with the Leafs other than being former NHL players who got there due to someone’s injury.
On the Devils, things looked bleak when Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce went down. It got even worse when Santeri Hatakka went down and Nick DeSimone failed to impress in the preseason. The Devils have been able to replace all that with a good first run by Seamus Casey and Johnathan Kovacevic earning a starting spot. Even with Casey being sent down, he’s a huge contributor to this team.
This is actual depth that Tom Fitzgerald has built for Keefe. This man hasn’t seen Luke Hughes skate in a real game yet. He doesn’t know what he’s getting from Pesce. Yet, he gets the privilege of finding a spot in the lineup for both of them, and he’s 5-2-1 because he got the most out of this defense while they were out.
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