The New Jersey Devils need to listen to their coaches unlike the previous regime

Something struck me after reading an article in the Utica Sentinel by Ben Birnell this week. He got an exclusive interview with the new Utica Comets general manager and New Jersey Devils assistant manager, Brendan Birch. Birch has made significant changes to Utica as Sunny Mehta made it clear making the Devils’ AHL affiliate was expected to be competitive moving forward.

The Devils have added a ton of talent to the roster, starting off with former first-round pick Anton Silayev. The hulking defenseman was toiling in the KHL for years and needed to make the jump to North America. Now he gets a chance to prove he’s as special as the back of his hockey card suggests.

Then, he added decent pieces like Amadeus Lombardi, Colin White, Ben Steeves, Etienne Morin, and Eamon Powell. There is talent here that should help the Comets compete in 2026-27. 

Back to that article, what struck this writer was how Birch made it a point to say how connected he was to Ryan Parent, the head coach of the Comets. It seemed like the Comets were kind of an afterthought under Fitzgerald. They have gone three years without making the playoffs, and they were woefully uncompetitive to start the season last year. They did come within a point after a massive run to end the year, but they still missed the playoffs again. 

Hearing that Parent plays a big role in the GM process makes sense. Parent knows this team, now in his second full season as head coach and third overall. He knows what’s working, and more importantly, he knows what isn’t working.

It sounds like that’s a similar situation that Mehta is dealing with in terms of head coach Sheldon Keefe. When the Devils decided to move forward with Keefe, there were more moves to be made. They got rid of longtime goalie coach Dave Rogalski, a move many considered to be long overdue. 

The Devils overall have a brand new coaching staff. The only person who remains is Brad Shaw, who joined the team last offseason. Was this an example of Keefe having a chance to finally hire his own guys? He got a really interesting coaching staff, including former Harvard head coach Ted Donato. 

Did Keefe finally get a chance to hire his own staff instead of having Fitzgerald get in the mix for that? We’d guess he had more decision-making power than he did before.

It’s smart of Birch and Mehta to listen to the head coaches. They have the type of knowledge that helps drive the bus. It’s nice to see a different thought process here. 

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