New Jersey Devils Q&A - May 31st

I answered your questions regarding Keefe's impact, trade targets in goal, and much more.

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It’s the last day of the month and there’s no better way to end it than the same way we started it: with a Q&A!

Let’s waste no time getting to your questions.

Who do you think could benefit the most from playing under Keefe?

A lot of players will benefit from Keefe. He is a modern coach who will use all the information available to him to put players, and the team as a whole, in the best position to succeed.

He also coaches to the personnel and doesn’t try to force a square peg into a round hole, so to speak. He won’t make players completely change their games to play his way. He’s going to coach according to the personnel on hand.

If I’m picking just a couple of players, I’ll say the young defensemen Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec.

In Hughes’ case, he’ll greatly benefit from having a coach who won’t continually bang his head against the wall and stick to something where there’s a ton of evidence it won’t work.

The Hughes - Smith pairing is a perfect example of that. They posted a -13 goal differential and 38.5 xGF% in 237 minutes together. Those numbers are so bad it’s hard to comprehend ever using them, let alone going back to the well time after time – even when almost the entire defense was healthy.

Hughes was +9 with a 54.8 xGF% at 5v5 during non-Smith minutes. Essentially, he was elite without Smith and below replacement level with Smith.

Whether Smith gets extended or not (I am guessing the latter), it’s probably safe to say Keefe will listen to the numbers and keep Hughes away from that sort of disaster. There is no bigger win than that!

With Nemec, he’s a cerebral puck-mover who provides more stability than Hughes – and several other Devils – with his ability to defend in the neutral zone, sneakily get sticks on pucks, and play a more predictable style.

Keefe loved – and I mean loved – T.J. Brodie during his heyday and I think he’s going to take kindly to Nemec. He offers a lot of the same elements and has so much room to grow.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Nemec is the team’s No. 1 defenseman in TOI come playoff time.

What are you most looking forward to with Sheldon Keefe as coach?

A coach who won’t pair Luke Hughes with Brendan Smith! In all seriousness, I think it’s great the Devils have found a coach who is completely aligned with the management team and ownership.

Regardless of how much you weigh the importance of sports science and analytics, the reality is the organization has a lot of eggs in those baskets.

It doesn’t do anyone any good to be one foot in and one foot out. There has to be buy-in from top to bottom to get the most value.

Keefe will maximize all of that. He’s also only 43 years old and one of the two or three youngest coaches in the league.

He’s progressive, he’s collaborative, he’s young, and – like the team he’s now in charge of – there is plenty of room for growth.

If things work out here, Keefe could be around for a long, long, time. That’s exciting.

Rank your potential goalie acquisition targets based on level of play, contract, age, acquisition cost, etc