Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Devils want ex-player ‘with some coaching experience’ for assistant gig

deboergetty

James

New Jersey’s search for an assistant coach appears to be narrowing -- slightly.

The Devils, seeking a replacement for Matt Shaw, are looking for a former NHLer with some experience behind the bench, according to head coach Peter DeBoer.

“I think we’re looking for an ex-player. I think we’re looking for someone with some coaching experience,” DeBoer told the New Jersey Star-Ledger. “Beyond that, I’ve got an open mind.

“We’ve had different personalities on the staff the last two years between Larry (Robinson), Adam Oates and then (Matt Shaw) and adding Scotty (Stevens) last year. So I think we’re versatile as a group. We just want to get a good person.”

As DeBoer alluded to, the Devils have shuffled the coaching deck over the last few years.

In 2010-11, John MacLean and Jacques Lemaire split head coaching duties (the latter replaced the former midway through the year) while Oates and Robinson served as assistants.

In 2011-12, DeBoer took over as head coach while Robinson and Oates were joined by Dave Barr.

In 2013, DeBoer lost Robinson (to San Jose) and Oates (to Washington), replacing them with Shaw (now the head coach and GM of USHL Dubuque) and Stevens.

Several candidate names have been kicked about for the job opening. Longtime Devil Sergei Brylin is one, even though he has no coaching experience. Brylin is currently working with New Jersey in a special assignment/scout role.