Sheldon Keefe has lost the room and Tom Fitzgerald has lost the plot

The New Jersey Devils lost 9-0. There hasn’t been a worse performance by a Devils team maybe ever. And honestly, they really tried at times. We’ve never seen a goalie just sit out there while nine goals were scored against him. Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe did that to Jacob Markstrom on Tuesday night. It wasn’t the first time it’s happened, as Markstrom already has an all-time bad performance from early this season, where he gave up eight goals to the Colorado Avalanche, but that’s the best team in hockey. This is the New York Islanders.

The Devils gave up three goals on five shots in the first period. It was clear that Markstrom didn’t have it, but the Devils were still pushing. They had 15 shots on Ilya Sorokin in his return from injury. They had a chance. 

Then, Markstrom returned to the net at the end of the first intermission. It was an insane move to go back to the guy who clearly didn’t have it on this night. Sheldon Keefe made that decision, and it was unequivocally the wrong one. 

Things went to hell from there. The Devils allowed two more goals in the second period, and their third-period performance was something that should play on a loop in the locker room. They just gave up, plain and simple. Well, at least Markstrom did. He gave up four goals despite the Islanders getting just one high-danger chance. 

The biggest issue here is that Keefe really tried to get his team focused again. He was visibly animated at one point, trying to get something out of this group. He benched Ondrej Palat after he allowed four goals while he was on the ice. He really, really tried with this group, but something is broken here, and his message isn’t landing with anyone.

The real problem is that a firing probably doesn’t do much. The players aren’t listening to anyone. And the issue is at the top. Tom Fitzgerald put multiple players on the trade block, and he didn’t trade anyone. He attempted to get Quinn Hughes, but he didn’t pull the trigger. He’s out there on EVERYONE, and he’s coming up short every single time.

Now, the prospects are going backwards, the team is in the toilet, the Utica Comets are somehow in a worse position than the Devils, and it’s all the fault of the guy in charge. 

We don’t advocate for firings at Pucks and Pitchforks, but the situation in New Jersey is dire. They aren’t just going to waste another season of Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier’s primes with terrible decisions, but they might have signed off on their star asking to leave. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but they couldn’t have fumbled this situation worse. 

Now that the Washington Commanders’ season is over, we might see some movement. Nothing is too late. This is still an insanely talented roster. On paper, this should be an easy playoff team and a fringe contender. They are playing like the worst team in hockey. This team should be focusing on Gavin McKenna if nothing changes. 

Keefe’s message isn’t getting across, and Fitzgerald has done way too much damage to this team with his inability to make the big splash. Ironically, the Quinn Hughes move would have saved this season and everyone’s job. He just didn’t want to make it work. And he could have physically forced it to work out! He had the means to get Quinn now and figure out the cap later. Instead, since he couldn’t make the trade in conjunction with a Dougie Hamilton trade, he let Bill Guerin steal his lunch.

It’s an unfortunate situation for Devils fans. Who knows if there is something that’s coming. It’s hard to think there will be with how slowly this franchise has moved. However, this is an embarrassment at a level where something needs to be done. What that is? Suppose we’ll find out soon…