New Jersey Devils would be smart to consider Bruce Cassidy as next head coach

It’s starting to look like Tom Fitzgerald has gone 0-for-2 on his head coaching hires. Lindy Ruff was a surprise hire when the New Jersey Devils made him their bench boss in 2020, taking him from the New York Rangers. After he was let go, the Devils let interim head coach Travis Green accept a job with the Ottawa Senators. 

The Devils had bigger names in mind. When the Toronto Maple Leafs let Sheldon Keefe go in 2024, the Devils felt like they had one of the top coaches on the market in their grasp. Keefe could go from a pressure cooker media market to one of the softest in the league, and he could focus on coaching one of the best young groups in the league. 

We had incredibly high hopes for Keefe once he was hired, but he’s fallen way below expectations. Part of it has to fall on the players, but we can’t ignore that this season was not very well coached. 

With the Devils almost certainly missing the playoffs, Keefe’s job is very much in jeopardy. In fact, everyone’s job short of the Hughes brothers are in jeopardy. That’s what happens when a team falls this far below expectations.

It’s in the realm of possibility that the Devils’ late-season surge could save Keefe’s job, but it will come down to one question. 

Can the New Jersey Devils hire someone better than Sheldon Keefe?

To feel confident in moving on from Sheldon Keefe, the Devils would need to feel like they are getting someone better behind the bench. Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier are in their primes. All of their best players are passed their entry-level contracts. Win time is now. And yet, they can’t even figure out their division rival, the Carolina Hurricanes. 

One name that just became available could theoretically solve their problems. Bruce Cassidy was just fired by the Vegas Golden Knights with a few games left before the playoffs. Is this the Knights trying to throw their players a bone, similar to what happened with the 2000 Devils ahead of their Stanley Cup run?

The Pacific Division as a whole is a mess this season. The Anaheim Ducks are likely going to win the division, and the Knights have an inside track to make the playoffs. However, the Knights have four more points than the Devils in the standings, and that’s only because they have 16 OT losses. They actually have five fewer wins with two more games played.

So, why would the Devils want a coach like Cassidy? For one, he has a Stanley Cup under his belt. That always helps. 

He brings a style that creates offense at even strength and suffocates opponents on defense. That’s what the Devils want from their team. They want to play like the Hurricanes, even if they don’t have all the right pieces in place. 

Will the Devils consider a coaching change? With a name like Cassidy on the market, they are going to have to.