The waiting game

The New Jersey Devils seem interested in Sheldon Keefe. But does he want the job?

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The coaching carousel has been rather slow in developing league-wide. There are a lot of notables on the market – and a lot of teams in need of bench bosses – but we haven’t really seen much movement.

I think that is telling in the Devils’ case. Reading the tea leaves, it seems the Devils would are enamored with Sheldon Keefe but are waiting to hear if he feels the same way.

That’d certainly be a reasonable explanation for the hold-up. If the Devils were looking to hire Craig Berube (all signs point to Toronto), Jay Woodcroft, or another coach who has been on the market for quite some time, an agreement would surely be reached by now.

Although they could also be waiting to see what happens with Rod Brind’Amour, it still seems likely he stays in Carolina.

Back to Keefe. He’s a different animal than most other coaches on the market. For one, he has a two-year extension in his back pocket that he can cash even if he decides not to work.

That affords him the luxury of sitting back and waiting. If he wants a break to recharge his batteries – or doesn’t feel he’s found the perfect fit – he can simply sit on the sidelines.

Keefe has a young family. He has to consider if he wants to jump right back on the horse or take this opportunity to spend extra time with them while still cashing healthy checks. That option would allow him to see what jobs pop up over the next year.

It's certainly worth noting Mike Sullivan and the Penguins seem poised for a split in the not-too-distant future.

Perhaps Keefe would prefer to wait for that to happen before reuniting with Kyle Dubas, who gave him his start in the OHL, AHL, and NHL, and taking a job in Pittsburgh.

These are all the things Keefe has to juggle, which could explain why this process is taking so long. It’s a big decision.

Wouldn’t it be something if Keefe is the Devils’ top choice and passes up on the job, instead waiting to replace Mike Sullivan – who’d no doubt be the Devils’ No. 1 candidate if he were available right now?

In that scenario, the Devils could miss out on their preferred free-agent coach in this year’s market, hire someone else, and then be committed to that new coach while watching their top choice in a perfect world (Mike Sullivan) get scooped up by another team. The drama!

It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out. While the Devils don’t want to rush a decision, they can’t afford to wait too long and miss out on several top candidates.

I would expect – one way or the other – we’ll get clarity within the next few days and a new coach is hired by the end of next week.

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