Sheldon Keefe must coach the New Jersey Devils with the principles of Tsun Tzu

In the dog days of this NHL offseason, Tom Fitzgerald seems to have struck the most complete roster ahead of the past few training camps as General Manager of the New Jersey Devils. The ambitious drive and the goals he completed included hiring a competent head coach in Sheldon Keefe.

Getting a young veteran coach with regular season and playoff experience was huge for the Devils. Bringing back Tomaś Tatar to improve the offensive system, Paul Cotter to replace Miles Wood in physicality and Michael McLeod in the faceoff circles. Stefan Noesen comes in from Carolina to show his big gameplay as a physically hard-nosed winger who lives for rivalry games and the playoffs. Jakob Markstrom comes to solidify the goalie position with Jake Allen on the net. This will take the pressure off Nico Daws and other goalies in the pipeline.

On top of bringing in Brenden Dillon from the Winnipeg Jets and Brett Pesce from the Carolina Hurricanes, this is a good conundrum to have. This means Jonathan Kovacevic can play with Luke Hughes and shelter him in a defensive role because Hughes is the running back of the Devils’ five skaters on the ice playing like a fourth forward.

The number of veterans on this team’s core goes from five last season to 14 this upcoming season, from Jack Hughes to Jakob Markstrom. There are eight veterans on the Devils with 10-14 seasons of experience that goes, including Stefan Noesen, Brenden Dillon, and Jakob Markstrom. They join a guy like Ondrej Palat, who lives for the postseason.

Having Sheldon Keefe use more players with NHL playoff experience, regular-season success, and great chemistry on and off the ice will be key to this team's success. This team under The Art of War by Tsun Tzu is best explained by these principles. If Coach Keefe can stick to these quotes of wisdom this team can achieve a lot of greatness.

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

Last season, then Devils head coach Lindy Ruff underestimated some games. Another example was the players not taking teams like the Ducks and the Sharks very seriously and not gaining crucial points. Not comprehending fully the system they played and counterattacking what they could have solved in preventing opening goals in every other game. 

All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we can attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

If you know the enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.

Looking at this portion in the way the Devils may appear looking not exactly the scariest team on an opponent's schedule. Tom Fitzgerald and Sheldon Keefe can tap into the feisty side, the persistent competition part of this roster. A lot of teams will realize quickly how hard they can play together and tap into their strengths defensively yielding more offensive breakouts. The goaltending will be much harder to reach with more brute force up in front of the Devils’ net.

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.

Victorious warriors win first, then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first then seek to win.

Players brought in under Tom Fitzgerald and Sheldon Keefe come here because they have won many battles. They go to war under a coach like Sheldon Keefe because they know they can go out and achieve team success without losing their principles and playing to the system that is taught to win crucial matches. A great coach is a motivator, holds players accountable, and has a collective of coaches and players who buy into an agenda looking to achieve the ultimate goal of winning a Stanley Cup. Players flock to excellent coaching and leadership on and off the ice and this team has a lot of leadership qualities going for them and it will help the young players become more confident and experienced.