The New Jersey Devils have hired Sheldon Keefe to be their 22nd Head Coach in their history.
The New Jersey Devils have hired Sheldon Keefe to be their 22nd Head Coach in their history.
President/General Manager Tom Fitzgerald said the coaching search was an "invigorating process" and that he was thrilled when Keefe became available.
"Sheldon jumped to the top of my list when he became available, and I was thrilled when he agreed to be a part of what we are building here. He is an excellent communicator, believes in collaboration, and will take what he has learned previously to make this team a Stanley Cup contender. The organization is incredibly excited to welcome Sheldon, his wife, Jackie, and his two boys, Landon and Wyatt to New Jersey."
The 43-year-old coach was loved by his players during his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was consistently able to get the best out of his players. He was known by many of his staff to be an excellent communicator and a hard worker.
During his tenure with the Maple Leafs, Keefe had a record of 212-97-40 and 16-21 in the playoffs. He led Toronto to the postseason in all five seasons but advanced past the first round only once.
Keefe’s playstyle with the Leafs started as possession-based. Dumping the puck in was only done if no other options were available. If there was no space to enter the zone or his team was making a line change, the puck carrier would look to circle back and pass it to his defensemen to keep possession.
In the offensive zone, the Maple Leafs would bring a forward high and split in between the two defensemen, allowing the defenders to move up the flanks if there was an opening. This tactic allowed the Maple Leafs to open up shooting chances and allow the forwards more space to make plays. This offensive zone tactic is something that is now frequently used in the NHL by many of the top teams.
Defensively, Keefe received more criticism than he should have. He helped Auston Matthews become a Selke finalist while keeping his outrageous scoring pace. Keefe’s defensive system isn’t anything new or game-changing. It’s a mix of zone and man coverage. One fault that followed his defence core throughout his time in Toronto was their rush defence. They struggled to maintain consistent gaps and would go through stretches where they gave up the blueline far too easily. The personnel he was dealt, may have played a factor in it. The Leafs elected to go with bigger defensemen who were better at clearing the front of the net instead of maintaining gaps and moving the puck.
With the Devils, he’ll have those players at his disposal. Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, Dougie Hamilton, and John Marino fit the mould of the modern-day defensemen who are good with the puck and strong skaters.
Keefe should be able to unlock the offensive potential of Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt as he did with Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander. Matthews scored a career-high of 69 goals and 107 points, Nylander set a new career best with 40 goals and 98 points and Marner has scored 97 and 99 points in his career under Keefe.
Mixing the elite 5v5 production Keefe has been able to get out of his players to go along with the already deadly power play the Devils have, the offensive game of the Devils could take another step.
The transition offence with the Maple Leafs lacked in the playoffs due to the number of defensemen who weren’t efficient puck movers. At the moment the Devils have multiple defensemen who are very efficient at moving the puck. The free-flowing offensive structure should bode well for Hughes and Bratt especially, giving them more time and space, as well as more passing options.
Many Maple Leafs fans believe that Keefe was out-coached in nearly every playoff series he participated in but he only lost one series that didn't go to a Game 7. Three times in his career, the opponent he lost to in the playoffs went to the Stanley Cup Finals. His ability to get his players to follow his playstyle would disappear in the playoffs. Each year in the playoffs they would dump the puck in at and extremely high rate and move away from what made them so successful in the regular season.
In all, Keefe handled the biggest market in all of hockey will class, took accountability for shortcomings and left the organization beloved by the staff, management and the players.
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