On Travis Green and the coaching carousel

Green taking a head coaching gig with the Senators suggests the Devils are eying bigger fish – as they should be.

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A few thoughts on the coaching carousel as it pertains to the New Jersey Devils:

Greener pastures

Travis Green has reached his goal of finding an NHL head coaching gig but it won’t be the one in New Jersey.

After an extended coaching search that first began back in December, the Ottawa Senators have decided Green is the right person to manage the bench moving forward.

That certainly caught me off guard as the Senators have new ownership with deeper pockets and a supposed increased willingness to spend money.

With an abundance of experienced and successful coaches on the market, I expected the Senators to chase and land a bigger fish. Apparently not.

I honestly am happy for Green – he seems to be a respected and well-liked guy – but I think the Devils were smart to move in a different direction.

Truth be told, I wasn’t impressed with what I saw from the Devils during his stint as interim head coach.

The team lost a ton of games, their underlying metrics tanked from what they were with Lindy Ruff, and he made some puzzling decisions along the way.

Pairing Brendan Smith with Luke Hughes at times – despite an overwhelming mountain of evidence that it’s a horrendous combination – drove me up the wall.

Healthy-scratching Colin Miller, who posted very good numbers in a depth role this season, drove me up the wall.

And making an example of Simon Nemec, who was arguably the team’s most steady defenseman throughout the season, as his first big decision as head coach was downright shocking.

I’m all for accountability but I probably could’ve listed 10 players who would’ve been more deserving of a night or two in the press box.

I didn’t like some of his decision making and I didn’t like what I saw on the ice. Thus, I believe the Devils were smart to look elsewhere.

I mean, there are coaches on the market with Stanley Cup winning pedigree (Craig Berube).

There are coaches on the market who had long tenures with teams that were powerhouses in the NHL (Todd McLellan, Bruce Boudreau).

There are hard-nosed coaches who command respect (Berube, Dean Evason, etc.).

There are coaches with strong track records as bench bosses for dominant offensive teams (Jay Woodcroft, Boudreau, etc.).

And there are notable coaches who could still be let go by their teams (namely Mike Sullivan and Sheldon Keefe.)

No matter what archetype of coach Tom Fitzgerald opts to prioritize, I’m not sure Green would be near the top of the list in any of them.

I’m happy Green landed a head coaching gig, and I’m happy it wasn’t with New Jersey.

The waiting game