5 New Jersey Devils Head Coaching Options Available Right Now
The New Jersey Devils fired Lindy Ruff after one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history. Now, Tom Fitzgerald has to find the perfect head coach for this team. Who could he target that has no obligations to overcome?
The New Jersey Devils need a new head coach. They fired Lindy Ruff on March 4th after a disastrous West Coast road trip. It was clear this team was not going to succeed under Ruff. It wasn’t happening this season, and that likely meant it wouldn’t happen in the future. This team was broken and it needed another voice.
Fitzgerald went with Travis Green, Ruff’s Associate Head Coach and the former Vancouver Canucks head coach. His experience in a high-pressure environment made many think he could take over the main role eventually. Unfortunately for the Devils, the team fell further and further out of the playoff race despite the teams ahead of them constantly losing.
It’s clear that the Devils need a brand new voice in the room. Ruff was the seventh coach fired this season. That means there are a lot of coaches still available who could be really good for the Devils. Let’s talk about them.
Craig Berube
Most Recent Stop: St. Louis Blues
We’ve heard a lot of people calling for Craig Berube to get a shot to be the Devils’ next head coach. Most like him for one reason. He’s tough on his players. He doesn’t accept mistakes, and he will tell this team to play the right kind of hockey.
Berube famously took a team that was in last place all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. The Blues won the Cup in 2019 with Berube holding the interim title. He eventually got the big job, and they even won the very competitive Central Division in the Covid-shortened 2020 season. Berube would lead the Blues to the playoffs two more times, but facing the reality of back-to-back seasons where they missed the playoffs was enough for St. Louis to move on.
There is one piece of this that’s hard to overcome: his system is aggressive like Ruff’s. However, his system requires more responsibility. If the Devils hire Berube, they do need to make some defensive upgrades to make sure they never repeat this season again.
Gerard Gallant
Most Recent Stop: New York Rangers
This one will be controversial, but New Jersey Devils fans would have killed to hire Gallant back in 2020. After his stint in Las Vegas, Gallant became incredibly desired as a coach. While we know he was interviewed for the job, along with current Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette, the Devils instead decided to hire Ruff (who was ironically then a Rangers assistant coach).
Obviously, a lot has happened since the Devils went with another option. Gallant’s star has fizzled. The Devils have put together a much better roster. Jack Hughes is legitimately one of the league’s biggest stars. The holes are clear, and if the Devils fill them correctly, they will once again be a Stanley Cup contender. This is a very intriguing place for a head coach to land.
While Devils fans would have loved Gallant in 2020, they hate the idea in 2024. Gallant did not bring the best out of the New York Rangers. He actually lost in seven games to the Devils last season. The Rangers fired him after just two seasons. It was a strange move since he took them to the Eastern Conference Finals in his first year, but something just didn’t fit there. For whatever reason, Gallant lost his touch.
Can he find that touch he had in Vegas again? Is there a reason this is now the third time he’s been surprisingly fired? Does he not play well with others? It just seems like the Devils are going to go in a different direction, but we wouldn’t be surprised if Gallant gets an interview.
Jay Woodcroft
Most Recent Stop: Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers were at one point alongside the San Jose Sharks at the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Then, Jay Woodcroft lost his job, and Kris Knoblauch was hired. Since then, the Oilers have been 44-15-4 as of this writing. They are one of the best teams in the league and a true contender for the Stanley Cup.
So, why would the Devils want Woodcroft in New Jersey? Woodcroft has been very successful in the past. In his six years as a head coach, he’s won an AHL Calder Cup, he took the Oilers to the Western Conference Finals, and he’s only 47 years old. While most head coaches on this list are closer to the end of their career than the beginning, Woodcroft could be a head coach for 20 more years.
It’s not like Woodcroft did a terrible job. It’s very possible that Woodcroft just had bad luck and went on a bad streak at the wrong time. Heck, the Oilers fired him after his team’s best performance of the season. It’s possible they already turned it around.
Woodcroft will absolutely get an interview with Fitzgerald and Co. He should be seriously considered. Many coaches win championships quickly in their second stop. Maybe Woodcroft is the next coach to do it.
Bruce Boudreau
Most Recent Stop: Vancouver Canucks
Bruce Boudreau’s last stop was just a mess. It seemed like he was a sitting duck in 2022, only being there until the Canucks decided to fire him. That’s not a good situation for anyone to coach in, especially a guy with more than three decades of experience. Boudreau’s career started when he was still play, acting as a player-assistant in the IHF in 1990. Since then, he’s won championships in the ECHL, AHL, and he’s coached for four different NHL franchises.
Yet, he’s lacked the NHL success of some of the other coaches on the list despite being one of the oldest still trying to do this. He’s been to the conference finals once in 15 years of coaching, and he lost. He makes the playoffs often, so there’s that, and he’s very well liked across the league, which is also nice, but the Devils need to get this one right. If Fitzgerald hires the wrong guy, it’s likely he’s going down with the ship.
Will he trust his franchise with another man likely past his prime? Boudreau is 69 years old. How long can he realistically do this? Even if this is just a “for now” hiring, the Devils need to set a plan of succession for Boudreau. This would lead to another hiring process on its own, and then the Devils would leave itself vulnerable to losing that coach like it lost Andrew Brunette.
Boudreau is a big name and a fine coach, but his age is always going to be the number-one reason GMs are hesitant to hire him. He also doesn’t have a Stanley Cup to his name, which hurts his ability to sell his style. We’ll see, as Boudreau is a popular name right now.
Claude Julien
Most Recent Stop: Montreal Canadiens
Oh gosh, could you imagine? Can you actually imagine if more than 15 years after the Devils fired Julien, they hired him at their most important moment? Julien was considered one of the strangest firings in Lou Lamoriello’s tenure. Lou Lamoriello fired Julien one week before the postseason started and named himself the head coach. It was bizarre at the time and is even more baffling now.
Imagine the poetry of Julien using this as his swan song and winning a Stanley Cup in New Jersey. It would be one of the great coaching series in this era.
Julien has a Stanley Cup, winning the Bruins last championship in 2011. He did a masterful job that season, and his Boston career was great. He was even pretty good in New Jersey and just lost a tug-of-war with a GM.
Julien last led the Montreal Canadiens before they went through their current rebuild. It was clear the team was trying to put together something that had already passed them by. The contracts were bad, the veterans were either too injured to play or not good anymore, and the team desperately needed youth on the roster. Julien was not at fault for any of that. He recently said he’s somewhat interested in still coaching. He is 63 years old, but Lindy Ruff was the same age when Fitzgerald gave him an extension.
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