Shanahan better suited for Devils’ president, not GM

The New Jersey Devils embarked on the next chapter of the franchise’s history on Monday, parting ways with general manager Tom Fitzgerland and opening an opportunity to redirect and restructure their entire project. 

While a new general manager could be in the cards, a new leadership structure could also be considered. It’s there, where former Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan could find a place. 

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Jeff Marek from The Sheet joined co-hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton to discuss what a potential role for Shanahan could look like with the Devils. 

Carter Hutton: We were talking about Tom Fitzgerald earlier, and being out in New Jersey, right? He’s a guy who was a well-respected hockey player as well. Now, he’s out, and Brendan Shanahan’s name has been thrown around. I know he has ties to the Devils’ head coach, Sheldon Keefe, as well. Does that hold any water for you? What do you think the next play would be for the New Jersey Devils?

Jeff Marek: Whenever there’s a coach dismissed, I always look to the general manager and try to figure out, okay, who is the coach that is going to satisfy what that general manager wants? When a general manager is fired, I tend to look at ownership and what it wants in that position. And you know, New Jersey is interesting, because the Devils are all private equity investors, right? So what do they value? How do they run their private equity business? It’s not based on vibes and feels; it’s based on information, like most proper businesses are run.

I don’t know why we think should think that sports should be exclusive from that, but that’s for another conversation…I just can’t see Brendan Shanahan coming in as a general manager. But that’s not to say there wouldn’t be value in having Shanahan as president of hockey operations. I’m sure you’ve noticed, but when it comes to making decisions on managers, it is less and less about whether you played.

And I think that this next wave of general managers in the NHL are going to be a lot of people who didn’t play the game, but the buffer between that person and ownership will be the president of hockey operations, who will need to be able to explain what the manager is doing, taking the general manager’s language and putting it in terms that ownership can understand. That’s where Shanahan shines.

If you’ve ever had any conversations with Brendan, he can have conversations with just about anybody on anything about hockey, and I’ve always felt that one of his main strengths is communicating with people above him. That’s why, I think, in a New Jersey situation, I wouldn’t be surprised if they make two hires here, one’s a GM and one’s the president of hockey operations. That’s where I can see Shanahan talking to people above his level and explaining things to ownership. 

You can catch Marek’s entire appearance on Daily Faceoff Live as well as the rest of Tuesday’s show here…