The New Jersey Devils have fired Peter DeBoer according to Bob Mckenzie of TSN.
Head coach Pete DeBoer has been fired by the New Jersey Devils.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) December 26, 2014
DeBoer led the Devils to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012 before losing to the Los Angeles Kings in six games. Before coming to the Devils, he had spent three seasons as the head coach of the Florida Panthers and also failed to make the playoffs during tenure there.
He also coached the Kitchener Rangers from the OHL before coming to the NHL. He won the OHL Championship but lost in the Memorial Cup finals after finishing with a 53-11-0-4 record.
A lot of people could probably see this firing coming. The Devils weren’t very good last season and missed the playoffs largely because they failed to win a shootout in 21 attempts. This year, they started 12-17-7 and things were seemingly getting worse.
This move could lead to the Devils starting a rebuild, and this could lead to a lot of trade rumors in the coming weeks. One player who could be on the move is Jaromir Jagr, who has arguably been the team’s best player this season.
It will also be interesting to see who will be the interim coach for the Devils for the remainder of the season. Some of the candidates include current Devils assistants, Dave Barr, Tommy Albein, Mike Foligno, or Chris Therrien. The most recognizable external candidate is ex-Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Byslma, who was fired by the team at the end of last season.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Peter DeBoer will get another chance to coach for an NHL team as he is a good coach.
Stay tuned to LWOS for the latest on what the Devils decide to do with their coaching situations going forward.
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