Just after noon today, the New Jersey Devils released a short statement from their official website. They have announced that assistant coaches Alain Nasreddine and Mark Recchi will not return for the 2022-23 season. Here is the text of the statement:

The New Jersey Devils today announced that it has mutually agreed to part ways with Assistant Coach Alain Nasreddine, as his contract will not be renewed. Additionally, Assistant Coach Mark Recchi has been relieved of his duties. The announcement was made by Devils’ Executive Vice President/General Manager Tom Fitzgerald.

The wording in the headline is intentional. As Nasreddine was coming out of contract, not re-signing him is the equivalent to releasing him. As Recchi was just “relieved of his duties,” this means he was fired. Amanda Stein confirmed on Twitter that Recchi did have a season left on his contract with New Jersey.

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The “evaluation” that Lindy Ruff referred to in his media session on Monday appears to be very much in process. And perhaps closer to its conclusion than we may think given these announcements.

 

Was it Deserved?

I bear no ill will to Nasreddine and Recchi as people. But this All About the Jersey where it is all about the Devils. From the perspective of the jobs they were responsible for, both Nasreddine and Recchi deserved the decision made by Tom Fitzgerald to not return to the team.

The case against Recchi is simple. He was in the charge of the power play. The power play was bad in 2021. The team’s success rate was a mere 14.2% (22 for 155) with 5 shorthanded goals allowed; the success rate ranked 28th out of 31 teams. The on-ice rates during power play situations were among the lowest in the NHL in 2021 per Natural Stat Trick. After public admittance from the staff that it needs to be better, the power play really did not get better in 2021-22. While the success rate for 2021-22 was higher at 15.6% (35 for 225), it still ranked 28th in the league. It also had the ignoble achievement of having the most shorthanded goals allowed with 14 – most of which were goals that significantly changed the games they were scored in. The on-ice rates during power play situations were again among the lowest in the NHL in 2021-22. At best, the power play stalled. At worst, it became worse in some respects. Either way, the power play cost the Devils points for the players and in the standings. Given that Recchi was responsible for this part of the game, there is no reason for him to return in this role.