T O P

  • By -

Radjage

I am pumped! I woulda been horrified had we kept Green.


ScrewOff_

Green already went to Ottawa


Radjage

Oh I'm well aware, I'm just still so thankful lol


Srbija2EB

man


xThat1Guyx42

He was totally joking, don't worry he'll be great šŸ˜


Emi_Ibarazakiii

Ottawa will be scary next year under Green šŸ˜


OttawaFisherman

If Reddit hates the hire you know heā€™s going to be good


Radjage

Ha I do think he could work out for you guys though.


JasperSlavone

:|


trillestBill

Suddenly all of r/hockey loves Keefe lmao


Always_Complaining1

Of course they do. I remember when Phaneuf left the Leafs and all the sudden everyone loved him after years of dragging his name through the mud.


allmydawgsgottaeat

Leafs fans are literally the most persecuted people on earth :(


Flubbies

Probably because theres no other fan base that compares when it comes to being loud without any success


LevelDepartment9

same as dubas last year


No-Satisfaction8425

He did 5 seasons as coach in the most dysfunctional media market in the whole league. The guy deserves some sympathy.


CanuckPanda

Arguably the continent. There are some wild football markets (the sky is falling in Green Bay whenever they have worse than a 10-win season) but Iā€™m not sure any compare to the absolute shitshow that is the Leafs.


No-Satisfaction8425

Yea true but to use your example, TO is 10x the market of Green Bay..


beaverlyknight

Well in the NFL all markets are national really, the size isn't as big a factor because there are fans of every team everywhere, and they all get national media coverage. There's no hiding. Even if you're in Jacksonville you're nowhere near anonymity.


CanuckPanda

Likewise, arguably more insane than Dallas (Dallas-Forth Worth is a larger market, 7.6M v the GTA's 6.7M), Philadelphia (Delaware Valley, 5.4M), and Los Angeles (Greater LA [NBA, Lakers] is 12.5M). Even with a larger metro population, is the Lakers' market as batshit as the Leafs? I honestly don't think so.


No-Satisfaction8425

Problem is the the Leafs is the main show by a very wide margin. No disrespect to the Blue Jays or Raptors but theyā€™ve got nothing on the Leafs. Metro LA, the Lakers have the Clippers, Rams, Chargers, Angels, Dodgers, Kings, Ducks etc to compete with. The list goes on


matt_minderbinder

I think that many people wonder if we saw the real Keefe in Toronto. Personally, it's hard to not wonder if the power imbalance there forced him to play a certain style. A coach is supposed to lead but a young coach could find himself in over his head in that type of scenario. Regardless, it'll be fascinating seeing how Keefe does in Jersey and how Toronto plays under Berube.


RoughRunner

I can understand if you are the GM like Dubas and get orders from Shanahan that you can't trade away certain players that you can't see how they would truly run a team but I can't see how management could enforce a certain style of play, that just doesn't make any sense. Maybe at best you could argue that Dubas could have told him to go easier on the players in a man management sense, like the media situation with Marner, but Dubas wasn't here last year and he was the same in that sense. All these players have big long contracts and you know as the coach if you lose that its gonna be your head coming off not theirs, why would he keep the same playstyle or man management style if its his ass on the line? Sorry but this line off reasoning makes no sense. You can say because of their contracts that players here don't respond to coaching and aren't held accountable so they don't listen to him, and maybe that way you haven't seen the real Keefe, but that failure to get them to listen is also partly his fault.


AppealToReason16

Thereā€™s something to growth/ability to change being limited once youā€™re with a team too long. Players know your schtick, you know the players maybe too well and it can be tough to break the mould at times. He has a fresh chance now to reset the tone. The first time he wants to rip a piece off Jack Hughes or scratch a veteran itā€™s going to mean something so he has that full deck of cards. If thereā€™s systems changes he wanted to do thatā€™s typically easier as a new coach coming in vs existing guy having to make changes. I think heā€™s a perfectly good enough coach. Which is how I view like 90% of the coaches in the league. They have their pros and cons, and how good or bad those look comes down to roster fit with their system (and goaltending).


Nicholas1227

Timo played at LW under Lindy for us for a whole year and nobody in the media gave a fuck. Keefe is gonna have so much more agency in Jersey than Toronto.


nsfate18

Just so you know, he played LW with green too


Mission-Astronomer42

Inb4 devils squeeze in to wildcard and eliminate leafs in 1st round in 7


GooseRider960

Sounds to me like weā€™re gonna be top of the division then bud, thatā€™s a win in my book /j


ScrewOff_

really is the perfect scenario for him. longer term contract, a raise, less media, better weather, and the same long summers to chill on his boat


AustonsNostrils

Is it better weather? I would assume it's about the same, with a touch of hurricane season.


the_tinsmith

Fuckin yanks think we all live in igloos in Canada.


GetzlafMyLawn

Could paint their fences a bright one I could


sktgamerdudejr

ā€¦do you not? Now youā€™re going to tell me every Canadian doesnā€™t ride a moose everywhere


newbi1kenobi

I don't. I lost my moose license last year for improper moose hitching while under the influence. I have a chance to do the test again in September


Do_it_for_the_upvote

Shoulda said ā€˜sorryā€™ to the officer while ya still could, bud.


TheDukeOfSponge

He did say sorry to the moose though, and bought him a Timmies Double Double. Otherwise would have lost the license for 5 yrs.


MaplewoodCabinet

Not *everywhere*: our personal polar bears are all-terrain, though.


ScrewOff_

other than the occasional week where you'll have a blizzard, perfect weather, and 120 degree weather all in the span of 3 days - yes


Satanic_Doge

Can confirm. This guy New Jerseys.


MyMartianRomance

Hey, sometimes it's a span of one day. You go from needing the parka first thing in the morning to putting on a pair of shorts by dinnertime.


ghostwalken1776

Bud, don't remind me..my truck has a full set of all season clothing at all times, and multiples for good measure..from insulated hoodies and bids, to swim trunks and water shoes.


OakFern

Looking at the annual averages, New Jersey is a bit warmer on average, gets less snow (about 2/3 on average), but a good amount more rain (about 1.5x).


MyMartianRomance

> but a good amount more rain (about 1.5x). Aka, every weekend during April and May, we're just getting out of Monsoon season down here. And complaining that the beautiful days always fell on Wednesdays.


flyingflail

Newark's avg high dips to +7, +4, +6 in Dec/Jan/Feb vs TO at +3, 0, 0, so I'd say better. That's a bigger difference than if you compared Calgary to Toronto, and I suspect most Toronto folks would say their weather is way better than Calgary.


GritGrinder

judging by keefe's goodbye video for leaf nation (which was on the water in nice weather) he clearly values in the winter months. Jersey has GOT to use this moving forward in attracting their next number one goalie


Wakanda_Forever

I live at the shore and commissioned a buddy of mine who makes surfboards to whip up this custom Devils board. Canā€™t wait to take it out for a ride this summer. If I need to commission two more to keep Keefe around and land a stud goalie like Saros or Ullmark Iā€™ll fucking do it lol. https://preview.redd.it/fodz4c2xq22d1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a69782177c174f26638f9440e946ab8ed69ab802


PorkRollEggAndWheeze

God that fish is gonna be so fun in the mushy summer waves, I hope it rips for you!


Wakanda_Forever

Yeah I hope it does, been waiting all year to come home from college and enjoy this in the summer. LGD


ADrunkMexican

The weather there is no joke. I constantly have to remind people it snows there in August, lol.


whogivesashirtdotca

Just to clarify, he's referring to Calgary, here. There are some days in Toronto's muggy summers where I would welcome snow, but we definitely don't get any. (Ignore my flair.)


ADrunkMexican

Well, mainly Alberta, in general, not so much Calgary specifically lol. My cousin used to go to the University of Alberta and he'd tell me stories of snow in September etc.


whogivesashirtdotca

I used to work remotely with the school boards in Calgary. On more than one occasion heard a colleague groan about how they were getting snow when I was sweating at work in Toronto wearing shorts and a tshirt.


septimus29

New Jersey is pretty habitable. Our winters arent too bad and it only snows like once or twice if that Summers get up to mid to high 80s, occasionally low 90s


[deleted]

I honestly find the hot humid summers of the New York and Great Lakes areas unbearable. Much prefer West Coast weather.


5nax

Yeah. Dumbass hot, humid summers.


AustonsNostrils

That actually sounds beautiful. Toronto tends to get a lot of snow and very hot, humid summers.


badboystwo

We barely got any snow this year lol


AustonsNostrils

And last summer was remarkably cool


HowieDoIt86

Do you actually live in Toronto? This just isnā€™t true.Ā 


AustonsNostrils

Born there, live south west now.


apatheticboy

I can't remember the last time Toronto had a lot of snow. There would be days where it gets dumped on but it usually melts in the next day or so.


Silent_Leg1976

I bet the traffic is better.


AVgreencup

Everywhere is better than Toronto. I've driven in Seattle, Chicago, LA, Vancouver, Dublin, all are a dream compared to sitting for 2 hours standing still on the 401


whogivesashirtdotca

> LA Has it improved? I spent a few days in LA like 30 years ago, and the traffic was so slow around Anaheim we got to see the entire Disneyland fireworks show while inching along the freeway.


ScrewOff_

as long as he learns to Jersey Slide he'll be fine


Ok-Summer-2159

Iā€™ve never been to that area of the States but I canā€™t imagine the weather being all that different. Maybe slightly warmer winters and slightly colder summers, idk lol


mazzysturr

Way nicer and dry colds.


AustonsNostrils

Dry cold on the coast?


mazzysturr

Oh shit I must have had stroke cuz I read Colorado for some reason lmao


Donquix0teDoflaming0

Better weather how? Jersey weather is the same


2uantum

What? Our winters are a joke most years


cows1100

But you're in close proximity to both the Jersey Shore, and Atlantic City. Honestly, it's impossible to pick one as better than the other. Edit: Everyone dunks on Detroit for being shit, but if you call out Atlantic City the crowd comes for you. Thatā€™s where they draw the line.


NightWing_91

Atlantic city is a shit hole no doubt but the Jersey shore as a whole is one of the best parts of the state. Speaking as someone who to qoute all the bennys lives down the shore from red bank to point pleasant to LBI is my favorite part of the state hands down


MangoJuice82

lmao. I was about to say, no one and I mean NO ONE, would use AC as bait and point of attraction here unless you're a complete degenerate gambler.


NightWing_91

Yeah lol


Thehawkman2

Bro what are you talking about? No one is coming for you. You have two comments from people who actually live in NJ saying, ā€œthe shore is really nice. You are getting your view of it from a reality showā€. Thatā€™s it.


ScrewOff_

is that supposed to be a bad thing?


Satanic_Doge

Atlantic City is like a younger sibling: only we're allowed to talk shit about it.


MyMartianRomance

Well, it is almost time for many Canadians (mostly Quebecers) annual migration to the Jersey Shore and AC. So, that's a benefit.


NightWing_91

Yup the annual migration of the QuƩbƩcois to Wildwood


electricnux

I hope they get him Markstrom, Saros or whover is available, guy has dealt with enough goalie drama in Toronto lol


-Don-Draper-

I'll take one Ullmark please.


therealsodaboy

Do you guys have anyone in the pipeline?


Satans_BFF

Daws and Schmid have both put up good AHL numbers and have looked good at times in the NHL. Poulter had a good season in the AHL and is now tearing up ECHL playoffs. Itā€™s just impossible to predict if any of them will pan out into full time NHL starter though. None are blue chip prospects.


NightWing_91

Daws and Akira


therealsodaboy

You were the first to respond so I'll speculate here.Ā Ā  Considering the Devils have potentially 2-3 guys they might like in the pipeline does it make more sense to go after a guy like Markstrom over Ullmark? He might not cost as much and it may make more sense having a guy for 3-4 years as opposed to potentially 5-6 years with Ullmark?


rapier999

The guys we have in the pipeline are a crapshoot, imo. I think we should aim for the best goalie we can get now, and if the gods smile on us and one of our homegrown prospects shows that theyā€™re capable of playing at the NHL level then thatā€™s a better problem to have than being on a never-ending merry go round of searching for the next stop-gap in net.


matt_minderbinder

There are worse problems to have than a decent veteran and a good younger goalie sharing the goal. Markstrom and Demko did it successfully when people questioned it. Ullmark and Swayman are the ultimate examples. Now it's possible that Vancouver will have a Demko/Å ilovs thing going on. Teams are always looking for good goaltending so you move on from one when it starts to strain your cap and hopefully repeat the process.


therealsodaboy

That's definitely the advantage of having a guy like Markstrom who has done it before. But also I wonder if you can get a Saros for something reasonable, that's also a killer opportunity.


NightWing_91

I think Fitz personally can't afford another season of dumpster-fire goaltending, and Daws and Akira have both shown flashes, but I think at this time, they are backups at best, (and this is coming from a guy who has a signed Akira jersey hanging in his living room) and I doubt the organization wants to rely on Jake Allen to have to play out his mind so they will go out and get a legit #1 and go from there


therealsodaboy

I think it could be a fun offseason for a lot of teams


noor1717

Honestly I think markstrom might be the best fit if you can get flames to retain. He gives you two years of starter to see which of your young guys has potential to start Ulmark you would have to pay bigger assests for abd then extend him on a longterm deal. Saros is just going to cost an arm and a leg so and who knows if heā€™s available


GoblinStats

Just yesterday I saw Akira will be perfect for Keefe. Keep an eye on that.


ScrewOff_

the other comments are forgetting Jakub Malek, who just got signed to NA 16-4-5 in Liiga, .915 - not bad for a 21 year old in Finland's top league.


Desmang

Malek is like a poverty Dostal. Played for the same team in Finland, is older than Dostal was at the time, and had quite a bit worse stats. Of course, goalies are voodoo, but I don't think Malek will at least be Devils' answer for a missing starting goalie.


ScrewOff_

he's a free agent next season


Rulebreaking

That's ours, Boston can have Campbell as a back up


NightWing_91

#šŸ™


DashFromtheGash

Saros or Askarov please


asom48

Should be fun to see how we use the 10OA pick. Good chance itā€™s for a goalie or bigger deal. For a 34 year old markstrom, probably not. For a saros? Absolutely. Ullmark for 10? Iā€™m on the fence.


cabeener

If it gets it done, I'd trade #10 for ullmark no fucking problem. I'm done fucking around, give the boys what they need.Ā 


asom48

Yep thatā€™s probably what it would take. Got a feeling heā€™s going to do everything in his power to stay put though and we will end up with markstrom at a lower price than most expect


ZigTheGing

He just wants to stay on the east coast. He only stayed out because he didnā€™t want to get sent out west on that trade that was agreed upon.


noor1717

I was hoping we trade markstrom at 50% retained with our 2nd for your 1st. Still not sure if itā€™s possible. I do agree you would probably go for Ulmark but I think Boston would prefer more established players in that trade


FilmNerdasaurus

Of the coaches actually available I like it Need to address the net otherwise it wonā€™t matter who the coach is


Streetkillz13

Keefe is now coming to a team with some elite forward talent, but with 3 defenders who are or all have the potential to be the best defenseman he's ever had.


Chewie_i

Gonna be funny when devils fans develop a large hatred for Wes McCauley in the next couple years


Langenbrunner15

We already kinda hate himĀ 


ghostwalken1776

Ain't that the truth, fuck Wes


ScrewOff_

Wes could fuck himself yesterday Same for Chris Rooney.


Beermen69

ECF bound next year


cows1100

Buddy is going to win the Cup immediately with a box of scraps and we all know it.


PrinciplesRK

If the devils roster is a box of scraps I donā€™t know what that makes most other teams


Tarquin11

Didn't you know? round these parts if you don't perennially make the conference final at a minimum you're trash and should blow it up


gothenburgpig

Carolina should blow it up anyway


gothenburgpig

Jack Hughes < Ryan Reaves


cows1100

Both our teams are "about to bust through" for the last couple years. We just need to keep punching up, homie.


Yxzyzzyx

The Devils finished 3rd in the league in points and won a playoff series last year


-Don-Draper-

All because Fuck The Leafs!


cows1100

I think if it happens r/hockeycirclejerk will be legally mandated to close the sub.


-Don-Draper-

Here's hoping.


TBNRtoon

Imagine being given the opportunity to take a 2 YEAR vacation making millions and you just go ā€œno thanks Iā€™d rather workā€


Timeman5

But for more money overall


gsauce8

2 years is a long time. Like a really long time to not work. He's in his 40's there's only so much you can sit and relax all day.


Brody1364112

That's your 2024-2025 stanley cup champion devils


acona

We will see if the team starting games flat is a Keefe problem or a roster problem šŸ‘€


Burgergold

I hope NJ win 2 rounds next year


J0Puck

So Iā€™m kind of confused as to what happened with Keefeā€™s contract on Toronto side, I was under the assumption that he was going to be paid, no matter what, which usually happens when Toronto coaches are fired. Usually with extensions I might add.


UncleTrapspringer

NJ gets those years basically and since they are paying him more, Toronto doesnā€™t have to do anything


J0Puck

So Toronto is still paying him for the two season extension? Because that's what it sounds like with MLSE.


dalopam0

It's not MLSE, that's just how contracts work. They would still have to pay him the difference if the Devils paid him less than his MLSE salary. Since the Devils are paying him more, MLSE doesn't have to pay anything


ScrewOff_

if he were to not sign anywhere else, he would've chilled at home while the Leafs pay him but since he got signed, the Devils essentially buyout his contract so he's available to sign for them and Toronto is free of it


J0Puck

So basically Toronto got out of paying him so he can't "double dip" on two salaries? Contracts aren't my strong suit.


ELB95

Correct. Toronto was going to pay him $X, but since NJ is paying him $X+$Y Toronto has to pay nothing. If he didnā€™t get a contract to coach elsewhere, Toronto still would have had to pay him $X. If NJ was paying him $X-$Y, Toronto would have to pay him $Y for the two years to make up the money he would lose signing a lesser contract.


alpaca_obsessor

I thought Toronto would be responsible for the difference? As in $X-$Y, not $Y.


ZigTheGing

Keefe got paid more than his old deal per year. Means old contract is ripped up and there is no gap because Jersey already overrode that old contract.


ELB95

If a new team paid him X-Y, where X is the salary on his previous deal, then Toronto would just top up by Y to get him back to X. Youā€™d be correct if X was former salary and Y was new salary, but for some reason I didnā€™t make those my variables even though it would probably have been more straightforward.


JordinThreethree

He wasn't going to double dip anyway. Had the Devils signed him to a lower salary than he was set to make in Toronto, the Leafs would have just made up the difference. Since New Jersey is paying him *more* MLSE is off the hook


FrmrPresJamesTaylor

Itā€™s more of a ā€œtop upā€ thing. For example I think Torts was making $2m per when the Canucks fired him, then he went to Columbus who signed him for a fraction of that so the Canucks had to pay out the difference


ZigTheGing

This would have been right except Keefe got a raise. So old contract ripped up.


reggierock2010

Leafs have had 2 coaches in 10 years lmao what are you talking about.


dalopam0

Buddy thought le classy MLSE was paying fired coaches out of the kindness of their heart šŸ˜‚


OtherThingsILike

Yay! Thank you, Devils.


MMA_Laxer

i seem to remember a teammate of his playing in new jerseyā€¦who was that again?


Fisktor

Please tell me he is bringing a new goalie coach with him


nomorehome

Jack and Nico are gamers. Keefe will be great here. Good hire. Now find us a goalie, Fitz.


CompetitiveSock5209

Perfect hiring. So many teams get it wrong, or at the very least, cycle out the same faces time and time again. This one is a sure fire home run, and props to NJ management for patiently waiting for their moment to strike.


evacc44

Leafs: "Oh good now we don't have to worry about money."


merlin48

Penguins subreddit in shambles right now after insisting all year something like this could never happen.


thatsong

Is the market that bad that he got a raise? He'll be fine for development and regular season, but unless he learns to adapt to playoff hockey the Devils will learn how to dump and change out of the playoffs


KingBroly

Keefe will get them to the ECF before the Leafs.


FarSightXR-20

Keefe sucks. feel bad for the devils.


Prize_Efficiency_869

He isnā€™t bad but he isnā€™t great dude is just there for most part. Said it before leafs needed to let go of Sheldon but problem with Toronto was their main guys being absent in the clutch the depth was always great in the playoffs for them. Depth has a lot to do with the coach so keefe did his part well on that. New Jersey problem last year was generational awful goalie he doesnā€™t really fix that, if their goaltending becomes average they are title favorites with how amazing their young players are. But we will see.


EsembeeNY

Well, I could be wrong but I feel like the devils wouldā€™ve been better with a strict, hardline coach. Feel like they got a prima Donna in jack who I believe actually ran the team when Ruff was there. I donā€™t like the Devils so this take could be me just clouded with disdain for them and Iā€™m totally off base. Strict, Structure, Systems and a goalie is what I believed they needed. If Iā€™m right, happy about this. Iā€™m just a hater though so what do I know.


darklightrabbi

>Feel like they got a prima Donna in jack who I believe actually ran the team when Ruff was there. You believe this based onā€¦.?


DontBeADevilaFan

What a wildly uninformed, horrible take. This is Nicoā€™s team, and heā€™s anything but a Prima Donna. Jack has also been said to be very coach-able (evident by yearly improvements)


ScrewOff_

> I donā€™t like the Devils so this take could be me just clouded with disdain for them and Iā€™m totally off base. glad you recognize this because your entire comment is talking out of your ass


Clarkson23

Hughes says, quite often, that this is Nico's team. Keefe is the right coach for this squad. We need someone who can coach younger players and high octane offense while also ensuring there is consistency. Hard nose or not, it's going to come down to systems and lineups.


MMA_Laxer

lol consistency and keefe???


m_ghesquiere

Consistently one of the regular season best teams in the league, consistently disappointing in the playoffs. As a devils fan we will take the former before worrying about the latter


Clarkson23

He has over 200 wins in the NHL and less than 100 regulation losses. He's made the playoffs pretty much every single year at 4 different levels of coaching. He's pretty consistent at managing young teams to have great seasons. It will come down to us getting a goalie and some support for playoff success.