Devils May Have Lucked Into Perfect Time To Find New Coach
With plenty of smoke around big-name coaches, the New Jersey Devils may have lucked into the perfect time to hire a new bench boss.
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It might be a little while before we find out who the New Jersey Devils hire as their next coach, and for good reason. Not only may they be waiting for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to end, but the coaching carousel may only be getting started.
There have been whispers about Jon Cooper and Mike Sullivan's statuses with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins and if they will remain with their organizations moving forward. And suddenly, Rod Brind'Amour's future with the Carolina Hurricanes isn't certain.
The Devils may have lucked into the right time to hire a new coach, even though they never thought they'd be in this position now.
There's Plenty of Smoke Around Sullivan & Devils
Word of the Devils and Sullivan being a possibility first came to light from a report by Nick Kypreos in the Toronto Star over the weekend. Kypreos doesn't have a perfect track record as an insider, so I cautioned about getting too excited about the possibility of the Devils hiring Sullivan.
While I still maintain you shouldn't get too excited about the Devils and Sullivan, there seems to be a lot of smoke around his status in Pittsburgh and whether he may leave to join the Devils.
Rob Rossi reported in The Athletic that no permissions have been granted to the Devils to talk to Sullivan. That doesn't mean it can't happen, but the fact Penguins GM Kyle Dubas had to address it means it was picking up steam.
Bruce Garrioch didn't do much to quell those rumors in a report for the Ottawa Sun, either. While he did say Travis Green appears to be the favorite for the Devils job (I don't think I buy that), he also said there's been a lot of talk that the Devils want to hire Sullivan to take over.
Garrioch mentioned that if the Toronto Maple Leafs don't come back in their Round 1 series against the Boston Bruins, Sheldon Keefe will likely be fired. That would make Craig Berube a favorite for the Maple Leafs job, and Dubas may allow Sullivan to leave for New Jersey to hire Keefe in Pittsburgh.
One reason that Sullivan may want out of Pittsburgh is that Dubas would like to make changes to the coaching staff, but Sullivan has been resistant to that. There's a bit of a power struggle, as Frank Seravalli reported on the April 30 episode of DFO Live.
So, yeah. As they say, where there's smoke, there's fire, and there appears to be a lot of smoke around the Devils and Sullivan. Will anything come of it? We'll see, but the Devils are clearly trying to swing big for a coach, as Elliotte Friedman reported on the May 1 episode of 32 Thoughts.
Cooper & Brind'Amour Too?
I think most would agree that hearing Cooper being a potential coaching free agent is a surprise. But Seravalli reported on the April 30 episode of DFO live there have been a lot of whispers about whether he'll return to Tampa for a 10th season.
Seravalli mentioned that Lightning GM Julien BriseBois is looking to give his team a jolt and that a coaching change may be something he considers. Cooper has one year left on his contract, so maybe a change wouldn't be a total shock. Still, seeing him look for a new gig would be odd.
There's no doubt in my mind the Devils would pursue Cooper if he became available, but one of the more surprising coaching free agents this summer could be Brind'Amour. It seemed like an extension with the Hurricanes was all but a foregone conclusion, but that has changed drastically in the last 24 hours.
Darren Dreger reported yesterday that the two sides were close on an extension, but an offer had been pulled. Sara Civian, who covered the Hurricanes for The Athletic for many years, confirmed the report and seemed to indicate Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon was the one who pulled the offer.
Brind'Amour wants to stay in Carolina, but if he has to test free agency, he will, which Dreger confirmed on TSN Overdrive yesterday. He also confirmed that it was Dundon who pulled the offer.
Dundon and the Hurricanes have gotten a reputation for being cheap over the years, and this seems to be the case again. According to Civian, Brind'Amour was likely asking for market value or even a little below that.
I can't imagine the Hurricanes will walk away from Brind'Amour, one of the organization's all-time great players. But if Dundon isn't willing to pay, which he has a history of, it's certainly not impossible Brind'Amour is looking for a new job this summer.
If Brind'Amour becomes a coaching free agent, I would hire him immediately if Sullivan and Cooper aren't options. The Hurricanes are not the best rush team in the league, but that doesn't matter. I don't think Brind'Amour would force Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, etc. to become dump-and-chase grinders. He'll let them play their game.
The Hurricanes have been one of the best five-on-five teams in the league in every one of Brind'Amour's seasons behind the bench. His players love him, he gets the most out of them, and he will hold players accountable.
Though the Hurricanes haven't advanced past the Eastern Conference Final under Brind'Amour (at least not yet), you can't deny the success they've had under him. I prefer Sullivan for the Devils, but if he doesn't become an option and Brind'Amour does, let him fill out a blank check.
Devils Have Plenty of Options Regardless
Plenty still needs to happen for things to break the Devils' way in the coaching carousel. But with so much smoke around Brind'Amour, Sullivan, and Cooper, it seems there might be significant changes behind NHL benches this offseason.
And even if the Devils don't land one of those three, they'll still have good options, like Todd McLellan, Jay Woodcroft, David Carle and Berube. This isn't what they envisioned for this offseason. I'm sure of that, but they may have lucked into the perfect time to hire a new coach.