Devils GM Ray Shero has a lot of work to do this summer, and at or near the top of the to-do list is to appoint a new head coach.
I touched on this recently, but one thing a manager often does after taking over a new job is put his stamp on the team in the way of hiring a head coach. It just so happens that there is already a vacancy there.
I very much doubt he'll let Adam Oates or Scott Stevens take the reigns, and Shero sort of hinted at that when asked if either was a candidate.
Via FireAndIce: “Again, it's easy for me to say I don't have any preconceived notions, I really don't, about this what I'm going to do. … They could go to player personnel, they could go to coaching and that's either good news or bad news to some people. I'm not sure."
Though there are plenty of big names available in the coaching market, I don't see Todd McLellan or Mike Babcock, for example, taking a job with the Devils. There is a lot of work to be done in New Jersey, and I don't think they could pay either of those guys the way Toronto, Edmonton, Philadelphia or Buffalo, among others, could.
One guy that could be a fit is Dan Bylsma, and Shero didn't rule out the possibility of hiring him.
Via FireAndIce: I believe Dan is a really good coach. He'll be a head coach again in the National Hockey League, but I've got to do what's best for the Devils and Dan's got to do what's best for him and if that leads us a certain way, so be it.
Whether Bylsma ends up in New Jersey or not remains to be seen, but it makes sense on a lot of fronts.
First and foremost, he's more of an offensive minded coach than the team has had in the past. Shero stressed the need for more offense as a team, and noted that the team philosophy could change, and that's one way of doing it.
Obviously there is the connection as well. Shero has won with Bylsma before and is familiar with what he can and can't do. When you get a job as a higher up in any field you want people you can trust working with you. You want to go with what you know, so to speak. Bylsma fits the bill there.
Shero is in Czech Republic checking in on some Devils - Tuomo Ruutu and Jacob Josefson are playing overseas - and doing some work for USA Hockey right now, but I expect we'll know more about this in the not so distant future.
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