The New Jersey Devils are on the brink of their season ending at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes. After getting back into the series on Friday night in double overtime, the Devils failed to respond on Sunday afternoon. There are a million excuses we can make for the Devils this season. They have more injuries we can count, especially on the defensive side. The trade market was insane and likely not right for a team that didn't look like a contender. This has been insane for them schedule-wise, including this playoff series where they are playing multiple afternoon games.
Nobody wants to hear excuses. They want results. And that's why fans are talking on Monday morning about making a change. This is Sheldon Keefe's first year as Devils' head coach. He famously had inconsistent results in Toronto, including a propensity for getting knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. It's why he was fired in the first place.
If the Devils lose one of the next three games, this will be the fifth time in the last six seasons that Keefe's team makes the playoffs and loses in the first round. The one time he did get out of the first round, the Leafs lost in the second round in five games to the Florida Panthers.
Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs are one game away from making it out of the first round this season with Craig Berube as head coach. Keefe's season is ending early again, and his former team is moving on without him.
That's probably why Devils fans are asking about the possibility of Mike Sullivan becoming their next head coach. It's something that seemed possible under Lou Lamoriello, who treated his head coaches like re-useable paper towels. However, we see no world where Tom Fitzgerald, or anyone else in charge of the Devils, would want to get out of the Sheldon Keefe business.
Back to the Devils' excuses, Keefe has done everything in his power to overcome them. He talked about the lack of offense coming from the bottom six. With Jack Hughes out of the lineup, there are only so many lineup changes Keefe can make to drum up some offense.
Mike Sullivan is a great coach, but he shouldn't even be a consideration for New Jersey Devils
Mike Sullivan and the Pittsburgh Penguins parted ways on Monday. They missed the playoffs for three-straight years, and it looks like Kyle Dubas is looking to make a change. There's chatter that Dubas could try to get Keefe in Pittsburgh, but there's no actual truth behind the chatter at this point. It's just circumstantial because Keefe and Dubas have a long history.
And while many will argue that Sullivan is an upgrade over Keefe, that conversation is going into this acting like the Devils would be his top choice. Many like to connect Fitzgerald to Sullivan to their shared time in Pittsburgh. The issue with that is that they never shared time. Sullivan was hired as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach in 2015, the same year Fitzgerald left for New Jersey.
Sullivan has actual history with the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers, two teams that have active head coaching searches. He was the Bruins' head coach from 2003 to 2005 before he was fired by Peter Chiarelli. He's from Massachusetts and might want to rectify his past there. He was a Rangers assistant coach for four seasons.
There's also Chicago, which is likely an enviable target for those looking for a superstar player to mold in a low-expectations environment. They also have all the cap space in the world to get creative with the roster.
We don't even think New Jersey would be on Sullivan's radar is they were an open position. There are too many top-flight positions that will pay him more money that the GDP of Guam. The Devils aren't doing it, and it's not worthwhile to even talk about it at this point.