The New Jersey Devils have some big decisions to make this offseason. We don't have to list them all. We've already done that. Let's just talk about the most urgent issue on Sunny Mehta's to-do list. Before the NHL Draft and free agency, and even before he talks trades with any other team, Mehta has to decide what he's doing with Sheldon Keefe.
That's not the only head coaching decision Mehta has to make. The Utica Comets surprisingly went into the season with Ryan Parent remaining the head coach. He took over for Kevin Dineen after he was fired in 2024. Now, close to two years later, something interesting can be seen on the Devils' staff directory.
Parent is still considered the interim head coach of the Utica Comets. It's incredibly rare for a head coach to go into a second season without a commitment. Who knows what the future holds for the job. However, they have to make a decision on it. They can't go into another season with Parent as the interim.
Will Ryan Parent survive the evalutations coming from Mehta? It's hard to tell right now.
The Utica Comets were not very good this season. They made an attempted run to the playoffs at the end of the year after putting together one of the truly worst starts of the year, but they fell one point short. They didn’t make the playoffs again, and the team that should be doing well is as disappointing as their NHL counterpart.
What will Sunny Mehta look for in an AHL coach, and will he keep Dan MacKinnon in charge to make the decision? There are a few different avenues the Devils can go to make the hire. They can give someone a chance from overseas, upgrade a guy from a lesser-known college, target someone in Canadian junior leagues, or hire from another AHL team.Â
Or, the Devils can keep Parent. He did do a good job coaching at the end of the season, and the team did get ravaged by injuries and call-ups. They were missing Seamus Casey for most of the season, who was supposed to be their best defenseman. Lenni Hameenaho had great development into an NHL player based on what he learned in Utica.Â
Whatever the Devils do, they have to make a decision. Either go with Parent or let him go. Keeping him as the interim for another season cannot be the option with important prospects expected to come to Utica, including Mikhail Yegorov and Anton Silayev.
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