The New Jersey Devils Have a New Assistant Coach

The NHL season is now over, and teams are assessing how their seasons went. The offseason is always a time of change, with each team looking at how they can be improved for next year. For the New Jersey Devils, it was a tough season in the Eastern Conference, coming 14th with 63 points. The team has held a similar position over the last four seasons, so a big change is needed.

Although the Devils managed to win 9 division championships, five conference championships and lift the Stanley Cup three times in the late 90s and early 2000s, the team has struggled lately. Bringing in a new assistant coach could help them compete again in the division. The Devils announced in July that they would be hiring Ryan McGill as assistant coach.

At the moment, New Jersey fans may be unsure of how this change will affect the team going forward. While they may not have had much to look forward to over the past few seasons, they can at least enjoy New Jersey gambling sites. Online gambling has been legal in New Jersey since 2013. Players can use a New Jersey online casino promo code to claim a bonus and start playing.

Who is Ryan McGill?

McGill is a highly experienced coach who was most recently an assistant coach at the Las Vegas Golden Knights. During his playing career, he played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, and the Edmonton Oilers before an eye injury cut his career short.

With the Edmonton Ice of the WHL, McGill first entered the coaching field at the junior varsity level. He took over as the head coach of the AHL in 1997–98 and remained in that position through 2001–02. He was given a chance to serve as an assistant coach by the NHL Flames in 2009–10 and 2010–11, although that didn’t end well, so he returned to junior hockey. In 2016, the Las Vegas Knights joined the NHL, and he was invited to the position of assistant coach where he remained until this year.

At the Golden Knights, McGill mostly worked on defense, and it’s likely he’ll do the same at the Devils. It’s also possible that the Devils will still hire additional coaches as assistants before the next season begins. Las vegas had a strong defensive team, and New Jersey fans will be hoping he can bring some defensive grit to a team that has struggled in 5-on-5 and shorthanded situations.

What Are the New Jersey Devils’ Hopes for the Next Season?

For the most part, it seems that the Devils have significantly improved their coaching staff by bringing in Brunette and McGill in place of Recchi and Nasreddine. It’s fair to say that the Devil’s decline last season was due, in part, to coaching and tactical decisions. Hopefully, with a change of coaches and a new strategy, they’ll be able to improve.

McGill has shown promise as an assistant coach previously, and it’s possible that he could come in and turn their defensive situation around. However, it all depends on how players respond to his tactics and whether his ideas work well on the ice. The Devils likely won’t be competing for the division or conference titles this season, but they should at least be aiming to make the playoffs.

This team does have a lot of potential, with a strong core of players that show a lot of promise. Last season injuries and illnesses derailed the team’s hopes, with over 400 games lost due to injuries among the roster. Prospects like Dawson Mercer, Alexander Holtz, and Nolan Foote at least managed to get good game time out of the injury crisis. 

This is a paid guest post.