When Tom Fitzgerald was given the general manager job of the New Jersey Devils in 2020, he had one of the biggest decisions to make right away. The Devils did not have a head coach in place. John Hynes was fired during the season, and Ray Shero would be shown the door soon after. While Fitzgerald was the interim GM, he was given the authority to trade captain Andy Greene, Sami Vatanen, Wayne Simmons, and Blake Coleman.
Later that summer, the Devils ownership officially took the interim tag off Fitzgerald, making him the full-time GM. First thing on his agenda was whether he was going to do the same for his current interim head coach Alain Nasreddine. The Devils were resetting after their move to go "all in" failed about as miserably as it could.
Despite giving Nasreddine a legit look, Fitzgerald felt that the experience of Lindy Ruff was more important to the job. The Devils have to reset after that, and the playoffs weren't a possibility the next two years, and Ruff helped the Devils have one of their best seasons ever in 2022-23.
Meanwhile, Nasreddine stuck around for a year. He accepted the assistant coaching position that he held under Hynes. It was likely an awkward situation for Coach Nas, but since it was the height of the pandemic, sticking with the team he knew was the simplest situation at the time.
Nasreddine joined Peter DeBoer's staff as a defensive coach in 2022 when he was hired by the Dallas Stars. After a successful run where the Stars couldn't get passed the Western Conference Finals, the Stars fired DeBoer looking for someone who could get them over the hump.
Former Devils coach Alain Nasreddine might finally get his head coaching opportunity
The Stars are reportedly considering Nasreddine to replace DeBoer. He's one of a long list of coaching candidates, but he might win out in the end. Some of the other names listed by athletes like The Athletic are Oilers assistant coach Glen Gulutzan, former Devils great Kirk Muller, and Texas Stars head coach Neil Graham.
Many had high hopes for the former Devils coach. He is a former player with a positive profile across the league. Reports say that Stars GM Jim Nill wants a young, up and coming coach to be his next coach, similar to when they hired Jim Montgomery. Does that count Nasreddine, or would he rather go after another college coach like David Carle or Jay Pandolfo?