Sheldon Keefe officially hired by New Jersey Devils

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Noel Drolet
May 22, 2024 (3:29 PM)

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Devils find their guy in former Leafs bench boss

The Devils have had a terrible year, and were looking to change a lot after a disappointing season. Lindy Ruff was worn out in New Jersey, and Travis Green was just a terrible choice in the first place. The Devils were reportedly risking waiting out on a head coach hire to see what the Leafs were going to do with head coach Sheldon Keefe, and it seems like they got their man.

It makes sense why the Devils want Keefe, as he has been one of the best regular season coaches by record over his tenure. He's ushered the Leafs into 5 straight seasons in the top 10 in the league, showing great results in the regular season.

The place where he falls short however is during the playoffs. Keefe has been known to struggle to adapt game to game, which can be a real issue for playoff formats. The Devils are looking to take a flyer on him and hire him despite his lack of playoff success, which is great news for Keefe.

They've locked him up for the next 4 years, with two of those years being rolled over from the Leafs. This signing could either turn out to be a fantastic signing and make the failure of the Leafs lie on the shoulders of the players, or could be a terrible signing that wastes the primes of guys like Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier.