James Nichols
Sunny Mehta has seemingly gone through his process of identifying the New Jersey Devils‘ weaknesses, and has cut ties with the dead weight.
Thus, the Devils GM fired Dave Rogalski on Tuesday and is reassigning Sergei Brylin within the organization. He won’t be in a coaching capacity.
Sheldon Keefe is staying on as the Devils’ head coach, and Keefe hires Brad Shaw and Jeremy Colliton will remain as his assistants.
However, the Devils need to replace Brylin behind the bench and Rogalski—widely known as a Martin Brodeur hire—as a goaltending coach.
The search to replace both are currently underway. Starting with the goaltending coach position, who could Mehta and Keefe pursue for the position?
Leo Luongo—Florida Panthers/Charlotte Checkers
Well, with Mehta in charge now and Braden Birch as his right hand, why not go back to the Florida well that’s worked thus far?
Leo Luongo, the younger brother of Hall-of-Fame goaltender, Roberto Luongo, has held two NHL roles with the Florida Panthers. He was previously their goaltending development coach in 2020-21—where he aided Sergei Bobrovsky in a strong year and helped Chris Dreiger put together a beakout performance. He then graduated to the Director of Player development, and is now the Director of Goaltending for the Charlotte Checkers, Florida’s AHL affiliate.
Luongo is a cog in the first of it’s kind Goaltending Excellence Department in Florida that’s helped develop netminders such as Dreiger, Joey Daccord, and Spencer Knight.
Part of Luongo’s responsibily as the Director of Goaltending is to streamline structure between Florida and Charlotte so the NHL and AHL goaltenders are getting the same development and mentoring.
In fact, it’s been a vital part of Florida’s organization which has helped Luongo and Florida lift two Stanley Cups.
That certainly would bode well for the NHL goaltenders and developing netminders such as Mikhail Yegorov and Jakub Malek.
Luongo in New Jersey could also help develop their own Goaltending Excellence Department and finally put an end to the revolving door of underwhelming goalies in the Devils’ organization.
Hannu Toivonen—Toronto Marlies
If we’re looking for a goaltending coach to have a Keefe tie, look no further than Hannu Toivonen who overlapped with Keefe in the Toronto organization for three seasons.
Toivonen—a former pro goaltender turned goalie coach has been labeled the Toronto Marlies goaltending guru after successfully helping develop Ilya Samsonov back to NHL standard, and Dennis Hildeby early in his career.
Specifically with Samsonov, Toivunen’s task was to get him back on track as a goaltender after taking a leave of absence for a “physical and mental reset.”
Toivonen’s role in Samsonov’s resurgence when he returned on January 14th after a 10-day reset was pivotal in his return to the Maple Leafs at the back end of the 2023-2024 season. Samsonov posted a well below average .862 SV$ and a 3.94 GAA across his first 15 games. He was assigned to the AHL Marlies to work on himself, and Samsonov received dedicated one-on-one mentoring from Toivonen.
Through focused on-ice sessions and support from the team’s development and performance staff, Toivonen helped Samsonov rebuild his confidence, refine his technique, and restore his mental sharpness. The results were striking. Upon his return, Samsonov delivered a much-improved .904 SV% and a 2.70 GAA over his final 25 games, demonstrating the profound impact of Toivonen’s guidance in helping the Russian netminder regain his form and stabilize the Maple Leafs’ crease.
Now, it appears Toivonen is molding another young goaltender in Toronto named Artur Akhtyamov, who just finished his first season as the starting goaltender for the Marlies, sporting a 2.88 GAA and .904 SV% in 37 games. Akhtyamov took his strong regular season performance into the postseason where he’s thus far accrued a 2.25 GAA and .916 SV% in eight games.
One source tells New Jersey Hockey Now that Toivonen is “deserving of a promotion” and would be an excellent choice to take over the Devils’ vacant position.
Curtis Sanford—Toronto Maple Leafs
It seems more likely that the Devils could pluck a Toivonen from Toronto as opposed to displacing Curtis Sanford who is already the goaltending coach in Toronto.
However, the Maple Leafs are undergoing their own changes, and Sanford isn’t necessarily guaranteed to stay in his position with a new head coach inbound.
Sanford is a former NHL goaltender turned coach who has spent his coaching career in the Maple Leafs, Utica Comets, and Abbotsford Canucks organizations.
In Toronto, Craig Berube inherited Sanford who was hired by Keefe as the goaltending coach in 2022-23.
His most recent results in terms of how his goaltenders performed don’t jump off the page. However, it’s more a result of an underwhelming overall team performance.
In recent seasons, Sanford has squeezed some solid numbers out of goaltenders such as Martin Jones, Joseph Woll, and Anthony Stolarz.
Depending on his fate in Toronto, familiarity with Keefe could lure Sanford to New Jersey with the 46-year-old goalie coach looking to continue his career in the NHL.
