Since taking over the reigns of the New Jersey Devils’ bench to start the 2024-25 season, Sheldon Keefe has had a mixed bag of results. There are times where the team looked dominant with his coaching. There have also been times, however, where the team also looks as though they’ve completely forgotten how to play hockey. Most of the team’s performances range somewhere in between those extremes, but Keefe has yet to find a way to get the Devils playing well consistently despite having mostly the same core group of players since his arrival. Injuries can certainly be factored in, but one playoff game won across two seasons isn’t cutting it for a team that’s supposed to be competing rather than rebuilding/retooling.
Devils GM Sunny Mehta made some adjustments in the offseason that might bode well for Keefe: he got rid of underperforming assistant coaches and replaced them with people who hopefully can improve the players on the ice. He also revamped the team’s depth forwards and while goaltending is still a question mark, I would argue subtracting Jacob Markstrom actually helps the team right now due to how much he struggled. The defense is much the same, so it will be up to Keefe and his assistants to get them playing well while also doing the same for the rest of the group. Obviously, with new pieces, new coaches and a need to get everyone on the same page, Mehta is probably willing to give Keefe some leeway.
But how much will he get?
Let’s be realistic here: the Devils need to start winning. They can’t keep wasting prime years of Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes among others. The Devils need to be at least a consistent performing group that’s a presence in the playoffs; they need to at least get close to the Cup Finals. First and second round exits cannot be tolerated anymore and I feel like Mehta’s hiring and subsequent initial moves demonstrate that he understands this. But will that trickle down to Keefe?
The Devils currently seem set to be at full strength to start 2026-27 barring any injuries occurring in training camp or preseason games. Unless the Devils somehow lose multiple stars/regulars in that time, the expectations for this team to start hot out of the gate need to be high. With all of the personnel shifts in the Metropolitan Division, I’d argue only Carolina as the defending champions (who didn’t have too much roster turnover) seem like a sure thing to be successful; everything else is wide open. With the talent that the Devils possess, they need to maximize the results; the main question could be is Keefe’s system the right one to get said results?
If Keefe’s system isn’t getting results, I think Mehta needs to replace him by the end of November at the latest. American Thanksgiving is typically the first check in point regarding whether a team is likely to make the playoffs or not, and while it hasn’t held as true in the past few years, it still serves in many hockey spheres as a checkpoint. We also saw back in 2019 how the St. Louis Blues making a change early on in the season (as well as adding a player or two into their mix) was even enough to not only launch them to better results but also to the club’s first Stanley Cup victory. If the cup is the goal for the Devils and they get off to a rough start, than Mehta might have to make a tough decision on Keefe and go in a new direction that hopefully boosts the Devils back into relevance and contention.
What are your thoughts as to how much slack Sheldon Keefe may or may not receive from Devils’ management this season? Do you think expectations are/need to be high out of the gate? Will there be a grace period in season for everything to come together or is that grace period training camp and the preseason? Could you see Mehta making a change early if there are struggles? Who do you think he might possibly pivot to? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!