New Jersey Devils fans are focusing on the team's roster this offseason. Tom Fitzgerald made some changes that are mostly positive, but there are still holes that haven't been addressed. They added depth at the center position, but nobody believes a third-line center is on the roster, yet. There is still a question about who the top six wingers are. Without Luke Hughes signed and Johnny Kovacevic injured, there might be some defensive depth issues.
The roster is the focus for the fanbase this offseason, but should we be talking about the coaching staff? Usually, coaches are hired pretty early in the offseason. The Devils already made some moves this offseason on the Devils' bench. In Sheldon Keefe's second season, he moved on from some Lindy Ruff holdovers.
Ryan McGill and Chris Taylor were not retained to Keefe's staff for next season. Some were surprised, as McGill coached the defense, and they played well despite having many new pieces in place, but the replacements had many who understood the move.
Former Philadelphia Flyers interim head coach Brad Shaw decided not to stick in the City of Brotherly Love, and he instead went across the Delaware River to coach in New Jersey. Shaw is considered one of the better defensive coaches in hockey and can get a ton out of the Devils' players, especially young players like Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec.
After Shaw, many expected Keefe and Fitzgerald to announce another hire. They let two assistant coaches go, and they only replaced them with one. The math is right in front of us.
It's unlikely Sheldon Keefe will hire any more coaches to the New Jersey Devils' staff
However, it's almost August. Hirings aren't currently happening. We went back to last year to see if any assistant coaches were hired in August, and only the Columbus Blue Jackets made additions to their bench in the month before NHL training camps. That was a bizarre situation, with the team taking until July 22nd to hire Dean Evanson, and then firing Mark Recchi very late in the offseason.
These hirings don't happen this late if it's a normal situation. This isn't the Devils doing insane levels of due diligence or waiting on the right candidate to emerge. It seems like the Devils have shortened their coaching staff and that's what they are going into the season with.
Not only are they short a coach, but they also never replaced the head video coach position. That was held by Jerry Dineen, with Ian Greenwald returning as a regular video coach. This season, Greenwald is joined by Alex Matheson, who was the video coach for the Manitoba Moose last season.
Is there value to a smaller coaching staff? Perhaps having fewer voices in the room allows Keefe's message to ring louder, but we have trouble thinking that was ever going to be a problem. The Devils are committed to making this work with Keefe, but we'll see how the dynamic works this season. We'll see if Shaw and Jeremy Colliton, who also has head coaching experience, will have an even bigger role this season.