Daniel Amoia
Yesterday, the New Jersey Devils announced that Assistant Coach Jeremy Colliton would be departing the organization to pursue other business opportunities. New Jersey Hockey Now then learned that “other business opportunities” are unrelated to NHL openings.
With some very important weeks leading up to the start of the season, it’s imperative that the Devils make an intelligent decision with their replacement.
Who are some intriguing options?
Paul McFarland
McFarland most recently served as NHL assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers. His NHL coaching journey includes previous assistant positions with the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs, which followed valuable experience as a head coach in the Ontario Hockey League and Western Hockey League.
He’s widely regarded as a power-play specialist. His work with the Oilers’ man advantage led it to a league-best 30.6% conversion rate. Of course, he had the benefit of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but still. For argument’s sake, after Jan. 1, the Colorado Avalanche power play ranked 26th (18.3%) with Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, etc. Success is never a guarantee.
These tremendous results make him an especially strong and lesser-risk candidate to replace Jeremy Colliton. Under Colliton, the Devils similarly enjoyed excellent special-teams results, posting a 25.2% power-play success rate across his two seasons — good for fourth in the entire league.
With McFarland’s proven track record of running a high-efficiency power play at the NHL level, he could step in and help maintain (or even elevate) the strong man-advantage play the Devils have come to rely on in recent seasons.
Sylvain Lefebvre
The 58-year-old Lefebvre has deep NHL roots as both a player and coach. He played 14 seasons in the league and won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 as a reliable, stay-at-home defenseman.
His coaching résumé is equally as extensive. He’s served as an AHL head coach and NHL assistant coach, leading him to becoming the Panthers’ assistant in August 2022. He played a pivotal role in both Panthers’ Stanley Cup-winning teams (2024 and 2025). He appears widely respected by everyone he’s worked with, both players and staff.
Notably, during that time in Florida, Lefebvre worked with Devils’ general manager Sunny Mehta, who spent spent several years in their front office as Assistant GM and head of analytics.
This shared history with Mehta could give Lefebvre an edge. It means he’s already pretty familiar with Mehta’s vision, analytics-driven approach, and expectations — something that could make him one of the more seamless and logical candidates for the coaching vacancy.
Ryan Mougenel
Mougenel is one of the most successful and highly regarded coaches in the American Hockey League right now. As head coach of the Providence Bruins, he led them to a dominant 54-16-2-0 record, earning the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as AHL regular-season champions. More notably in the Devils’ eyes, he won the Louis A.R. Pieri Award as the AHL’s Most Outstanding Coach.
Over his five seasons as Providence’s head coach, his teams have regularly compiled some of the best records in the AHL. Since 2005, he’s worked with various teams in the ECHL and AHL.
Multiple successful prospects have graduated to the NHL under his watch. His teams are always competitive and well-structured. After two decades of rising up the ranks, moving from a successful AHL head-coaching role to an NHL assistant position is a natural progression. His fresh, modern approach and winning mentality could be exactly what Mehta and the Devils are looking for.
Of course, there’s so much that goes into building a championship organization — something Mehta witnessed firsthand in Florida. Obviously, no individual hire is the end-all, be-all to success. Still, every single addition bears great responsibility when it comes to reaching the promise land.
