New Jersey Devils notes: On Brylin's promotion and the Islanders missing out on Kadri

The Devils finalized their coaching staff on Thursday. Plus, the Islanders failed to close a deal with the top free agent remaining.

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A couple New Jersey Devils notes as we head into one of our last weekends without hockey:

Brylin SZN

The Devils rounded out their coaching staff Thursday afternoon by promoting Sergei Brylin and naming him an assistant coach.

This has been a long-time coming for the the 48-year-old, who has spent the last nine(!) seasons working with the organization’s AHL affiliate.

With coaches who will primarily focus on the forwards/PP (Andrew Brunette) and defense/PK (Ryan McGill) already in place, Brylin will serve as the eye-in-the-sky.

That means watching the game with a fine tooth comb and relaying what he sees down to the bench.

Is a certain defender slow to pivot and recover dump-ins? Is the opposing team overcommitting against dynamic puck carriers – like Jack Hughes or Jesper Bratt – and leaving themselves exposed on the weak side?

Those are some of the things Brylin will be responsible for picking up and sharing.

He will also work closely with individual players and assist McGill with the penalty kill.

Amanda Stein @amandacstein

Not included in the article was Sergei Brylin outlining to me some of his coaching responsibilities after talking w/ Lindy & Tom Fitzgerald: He will be the ‘eye-in-the-sky’ during games, doing a lot of one-on-one work with players & will be supporting the penalty kill. #NJDevils

This is a well-deserved promotion for Brylin. He has been a loyal soldier to the Devils for the better part of 30 years, spending his entire NHL career with the franchise and returning shortly after his playing days finished in Russia.

He has worked closely with a lot of young players since getting into coaching, from now-established forwards like Yegor Sharangovich and Nathan Bastian to Devils-to-be in Alexander Holtz and Fabian Zetterlund.

Brylin will be able to give those kids plenty of extra attention to help bring them along and ease the transition from AHL to NHL.

This is a nice step forward for Brylin’s career; not to mention, a positive for the team itself.

Tom Fitzgerald, Lindy Ruff and co. deserve credit for putting together what looks to be a very strong coaching staff.

Isles swing and miss