Changes could come to Devils after Saturday's game in St. Louis, Coaching Change Possible

If the Devils continue to struggle after their game in St. Louis on Saturday night, major changes could be coming. Lou Lamoriello yesterday told Rich Chere of the Newark Star Ledger that he is happy with the way MacLean is handling the job with the current circumstances, but would not allude any further on that. He did say that he evaluates the team every 10 games, so Game 20 of the season will come this Saturday night in St. Louis, so we shall see then.

There is huge speculation that Lou Lamoriello himself would coach the team if MacLean were to be fired. Lamoriello coached the Devils for the majority of the 2005-2006 season when Larry Robinson resigned due to stress and family matters and at the end of the 2006-2007 season when he shockingly fired current Boston Bruins coach and then coach Claude Julien with 3 games left in the season. The Devils were 2nd in the East at the time of Julien's firing. During both of those stints Lou had John MacLean at his side and MacLean was a huge part of the Devils 15 game winning streak at the end of the 2005-2006 season, which included 11 straight to end the season and a sweep of the NY Rangers in Round 1 of the playoffs. So, you would have to back John MacLean in that regard. Though Lou would likely hire a coach outside the organization if MacLean is fired, some candidates are in my previous post.

But, trades could also come as the team does need to clear as much salary cap space as possible in order to do any business close to the trade deadline. So, the Devils need to put together a win streak, a big win streak in order for jobs to be safe.