Keefe, Devils face uncertainty after Fitzgerald's departure

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Tom Fitzgerald called Sheldon Keefe on Monday to tell the coach he hired that after more than six years as general manager of the New Jersey Devils, he was leaving the organization.

“It’s not a good feeling to hear the news,” Keefe said Tuesday. “Not a better feeling today, frankly.”

Justifiably so because with all the uncertainty that's now coming to the Devils with ownership looking for new leadership in the front office, Keefe is at the epicenter of it. Keefe said he spoke with Tad Brown, CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NHL club, and was told he’d be part of an evaluation process once the season is over.

"I certainly hope to be a part of the solution here," Keefe said. “Obviously they’ve got some decisions to make on who the new general manager and what the leadership of the team looks like. ... I'll be a part of that discussion and evaluation. It’s not something I feel good about with the situation that we’ve put the team in here.”

New Jersey is on track to miss the playoffs, though part of that can be chalked up to the absence of Jack Hughes for five weeks following a freak thumb injury from a team dinner in November and the games after his return when he was not fully healthy.

Since Hughes returned from scoring the golden goal in overtime for the U.S. at the Olympics, the Devils are 12-7-1, a points percentage of .625 that would have them at least in contention if not already postseason-bound.

“We haven’t had the group on the ice that Tom built for enough of an amount of time," Keefe said. "But that’s also where I bear responsibility is it’s my job to be able to sustain our game at times when we’re not healthy. How we’re playing now and how we played for that period of time (without Hughes), they’re both part of the evaluation process and ultimately are my responsibility.”

Keefe coached the Devils to the playoffs a year ago, bowing out in five games in the first round, also after Hughes was lost for the season following shoulder surgery. In seven seasons in the league, this is the first spring Keefe is not taking someone to the playoffs.

Toronto made it each time under him from 2020 (when the field was expanded because of the pandemic) through 2024, though the Maple Leafs won just one series during that stretch. He is back in a familiar spot from 2023, when then-president of hockey operations Brendan Shanahan fired GM Kyle Dubas, who in November 2019 promoted Keefe to replace Mike Babcock.

“A similar feeling in terms of letting down the organization and the general manager that believes in you, so that hasn’t changed,” said Keefe, who lasted one season under new — and also since fired — GM Brad Treliving in Toronto before losing that job and joining New Jersey. “At that time, I had to kind of fight for my position in the organization, it’ll be a very similar situation here now.”

Shanahan's name has been linked to the Devils if they hire a president of hockey operations between a GM and ownership. Treliving could also fit the bill as an experienced executive, and Florida's Sunny Mehta and Brett Peterson are among the assistants who look ready to run an NHL franchise. Mehta served as the Devils' director of analytics from 2014-18 before helping the Panthers win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships the past two years.

No matter who's running the show, it'll be different. Fitzgerald has been around more than a decade and had the controls as GM since early 2020, responsible in some way for the entire core of Hughes and brother Luke, captain Nico Hischier, and forwards Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt.

"We can’t really control what’s going into the offseason with moves here and there,” Bratt said. “We don’t really know who the GM is that’s coming in, either, and what their plan is.”

Thankful for everything Fitzgerald did for him and his teammates, Hischier figures the next GM will bring a breath of fresh air and some new ideas. Eligible to sign an extension July 1, he was noncommittal about his future beyond finishing out this season.

“I’m focusing on playing hockey here,” Hischier said. “I still have one more year. I’m with the Devils right now, and then we’ll see what happens.”

New Jersey is in see-what-happens mode after Fitzgerald's departure, and Keefe as well as players understand the decision on who takes over is out of their hands.

“I know I trust our ownership group, and they’re smart people,” Jack Hughes said. “They’ll bring someone good in here.”

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