Sheldon Keefe began his tenure as the New Jersey Devils' head coach with one mission.
"My focus is on establishing a process that we will adhere to on a daily basis and seek a sustained high performance that will lead us to have opportunities to compete for the Stanley Cup," he said in May 2024.
Throughout the 82-game regular season schedule, Keefe familiarized himself with his roster, and the players adjusted to his coaching style.
After securing a spot in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Devils were eliminated in the first round in Game 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
"When I look back, if I am looking at the positive part of it, there is a foundation here now," Keefe said during his end-of-season media availability. "There is an expectation in terms of what the standard is, not just to make the playoffs, but all the things that go into it to be a team that can compete in the playoffs."
There were positives this season, starting with the Devils' special teams, which finished in the top five in the NHL in the regular season. In his return to New Jersey, Stefan Noesen had a career-high 41 points, and Nico Hischier scored a single-season career-high of 35 goals.
Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen also solved New Jersey's goaltending problems as general manager Tom Fitzgerald called them one of the better tandems in the NHL.
The negatives include the lack of consistent depth scoring and the team's continued struggles to string together more than three wins.
"We showed an inability to sustain our game," Keefe said. "And that is the hardest thing to do in the League, to sustain your game, year over year, throughout a season. Our foundation is in place to continue to build upon. Clearly, we have to continue to get better. We want to sustain our level of play year over year. We were unable to do that throughout our season."
Over the next few months, general manager Tom Fitzgerald and his team will fill holes in his current lineup and provide Keefe with an improved roster to start the 2025-26 season.
The good news for Keefe, is that the majority of players who will report to training camp in September will be familair with his style and the standard in New Jersey.
"Now they know what to expect," Keefe said. "Now we can put layers on top of that and take the next step, which obviously is required. That is about continuing to raise the bar. Part of the improving process is me improving as a coach with the information that I now have and the experience with this group and trying to build our team to the next level."
With Keefe setting the foundation as he intended to, the next step is to find a way for his team to sustain their game and not just make the postseason, but put together a playoff run.
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