Eastern Conference team granted permission to speak with Sheldon Keefe
As the NHL coaching carousel continues to swirl, it looks like Sheldon Keefe could find himself a new home a lot sooner than initially anticipated.
The NHL is becoming a league where the head coaches are getting fired left, right, and centre. With league parity giving way to a lot more wild cards and dark horses, many organizations have been playing a game of musical chairs with their bench bosses in an attempt to shake things up.
This year alone we saw 7 teams fire their coaches mid-season. The Edmonton Oilers moved on from Jay Woodcroft, the Minnesota Wild fired Dean Evason, the St. Louis Blues canned Craig Berube, Todd McLellan was let go by Los Angeles, D.J. Smith lasted just 26 games in Ottawa, Lane Lambert was let go by the New York Islanders, and Lindy Ruff was let go in March by the Devils.
A few more clubs have joined the fray since the off-season began including the Seattle Kraken and the Toronto Maple Leafs. While not many teams are knocking on Dave Hakstol's door, there is a lot of interest circulating around Keefe, primarily out of New Jersey.
TSN's Pierre LeBrun tweeted out that the Devils have sought and received permission from the Maple Leafs to speak with Keefe, who was fired just yesterday.
Keefe has had a very successful career to date, especially in the regular season, where he posted a 212-97-40 record through parts of 5 seasons. He reached the 50-win mark in 2 of the last 3 seasons and had surpassed 100 points in 3 straight years.
Unfortunately playoff success alluded him as he was ousted in the first round of the playoffs in 4 of his 5 seasons. The only time he got the Maple Leafs over the hump came in 2022-23 but they only managed one win in the second round before being handedly defeated by the Florida Panthers in 5 games.
The Devils failed to qualify for the playoffs for the 5th time in the last 6 years and 10th time since 2012-13. After winning 52 games last season, they took a steep drop off and finished with a paltry 38-39-5 record before relieving Lindy Ruff of his coaching duties.
With a team that is filled with young talent, this could be the best spot for Keefe to take over and put his playoff sorrows to rest. The Metropolitan Division is wide open after the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes, which could bode well for Keefe if he were to take the reigns.
| POLL | ||
MAI 10 | 659 ANSWERS Eastern Conference team granted permission to speak with Sheldon Keefe Will Sheldon Keefe be the next coach of the New Jersey Devils? | ||
| Yes | 443 | 67.2 % |
| No | 216 | 32.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
