It has been just under a week since the New Jersey Devils hired Sheldon Keefe as their new head coach, but everyone already has an opinion on it. When you really think about it, he should be the perfect fit for this team. The Devils high-end talent should react well to what Sheldon Keefe does best.
One area that he may excel in is the power play. In fact, with guys like Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, Luke Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, and Dawson Mercer amongst others to work with, they could be a top-five group.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, with Keefe as the head coach, had a ton of talent as well. Guys like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly all made their power play special as well.
The New Jersey Devils need more from their power play going forward
Keefe knows how to get the most out of great players. That will include hiring the right person to run this power play so it can take advantage of all the skills the team possesses.
During the regular season, the Maple Leafs had a 23.9 playoff percentage which was good for seventh in the NHL. New Jersey, on the other hand, finished 13th with a 22.4 percentage. That number doesn't tell the whole story, though. They were first in December when Jack Hughes was healthy. In the second half, they mostly missed Hughes, but they went long stretches without a power play goal and fell to 13th.
With Keefe and his eventual new staff coming in, the Devils should be able to be a top-five group and keep it that way. If they do, making the playoffs shouldn't be a problem for them.
New Jersey has too much offensive firepower to not be scoring on the power play with regularity. There is no reason that they can't be one of the best in the league and Keefe is going to hire someone that will help them get there.