The New Jersey Devils have a long history of former players who have become head coaches. There are a few around the league who have been given the opportunity in the pros, including assistant coaches John Madden, John MacLean, Sergei Brylin, Tuomu Ruutu, and Kirk Muller. Jay Pandolfo is the head coach at Boston University. Scott Gomez is moving up the coaching ranks, recently taking the head coaching job for the USHL's Chicago Steel.
Now, another former Devils player is putting "head coach" on his resume. However, this one isn't as legendary as some of the others.
Krys Barch spent just one season with the Devils, joining New Jersey after their 2012 run to the Stanley Cup Final. He played the lockout-shortened 2013 season, appearing in just 22 games for the team. In those games, most of what he did was fight. He had zero points, which seems almost impossible with 22 games. The Devils actually traded him back to Florida for Scott Timmins and a sixth-round pick (which turned into JD Dudek, who was part of the deal that brought Pat Maroon to New Jersey).
Since his retirement, Barch has been focused on development coaching. He was a skills, skating, and development coach with the Buffalo Sabres for six seasons. Then, he joined the Huron Perth Lakers, a team teaching teenagers how to prepare for the next levels of hockey. Every year, he’s become the head coach of a more important team with Huron, but now, he’s moving on to the OHL.
OHL News - Sounds like the Niagara IceDogs will name ex-NHL'er and former London Knight Krys Barch as their next head coach.
— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) June 16, 2025
Krys Barch is reportedly taking on new head coaching opportunity
Niagara was once the OHL home to Devils superstar defenseman Dougie Hamilton. Other former IceDogs in the NHL include Jason Robertson, Carter Verhaeghe, and Alex Pietrangelo. Now, Barch is going to guide and develop the next generation of NHL players. He might be a fighter in the NHL, but those players usually become really good coaches.
Barch didn't have a big impact on the Devils, but he could be coaching the future of the Devils. He's trying to make the IceDogs relevant after an extended rebuild. They haven't finished higher than fourth since winning the division in 2019. Barch will work to get them back to where they used to be.