The New Jersey Devils are preparing for a big offseason. The team is looking to transform from perennial disappointment to an actual contender. To do that, everything has to fall into place. They have core pieces in Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. They have young and veteran players at almost every position. Yet, they didn’t make the playoffs this season, and they didn’t come close.
Usually, that leads to the end of the road for the head coach. And that might be the case for Sheldon Keefe, but that decision falls to Sunny Mehta. He said nice things about Keefe during his introductory press conference, and he seems to be leaning towards keeping him for year three, but that’s not guaranteed just yet.Â
Other coaches on the roster have been there for some time. Dave Rogalski been the Devils’ goaltending coach since 2020. There hasn’t been good goaltending… ever during that time. Jeremy Colliton was given a chance after spending time as the head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. He’s been with the Devils since 2024. Sergei Brylin has been with the Devils organization for multiple head coaches across the AHL and NHL. He’s not going anywhere.
Brylin shouldn’t be the only coach considered safe. Brad Shaw joined the Devils last season after a short stint as the Philadelphia Flyers interim head coach. He’s been around the league for years, and he has great experience with the team.Â
Brad Shaw should be given another chance as the defensive-minded coach for the New Jersey Devils
Despite some issues here and there, the Devils’ defense was not the issue this season. In fact, multiple aspects of the defense pointed to a positive for the Devils. The team was seventh in the league in shot differential. There were multiple games where the Devils held the opposing team to close to half the shots they had.
At the end of the season, the Devils took close to 200 more shots than they allowed. Unfortunately, the Devils had the second-lowest shooting percentage in the NHL. They had the lowest high-danger shooting percentage in the NHL.
Shaw brought really great penalty kill design and navigated injuries to his defensive core well. Brett Pesce, Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, and Johnny Kovacevic all missed significant time in 2025-26. The only defenders who played all 82 games were Brenden Dillon and Jonas Siegenthaler, two defensive-minded, left-handed defensemen.Â
Shaw brings stability and impact to the defensive squad. With major changes expected on the blue line, keeping him on the bench makes sense, even if it isn’t Keefe who sticks around.Â
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