Devils Add Veteran Coach Brad Shaw to Sheldon Keefe’s Staff

The New Jersey Devils have officially hired Brad Shaw as an assistant coach, and he will join the team on July 1, 2025. This move comes shortly after the team made changes to its coaching structure, including the departure of defensive assistant Ryan McGill earlier in May. With head coach Sheldon Keefe looking to build his own staff, he now adds a trusted and experienced coach in Shaw.

Shaw brings over 25 years of coaching experience in the NHL, as well as a playing career that spanned over a decade. Most recently, he was with the Philadelphia Flyers. He joined them as associate coach on July 5, 2022, and finished the 2024–25 season as interim head coach after John Tortorella stepped down on March 27. Shaw led the team for nine games and ended with a record of 5 wins, 3 losses, and 1 overtime loss. Despite his efforts, the Flyers hired Rick Tocchet as the full-time head coach instead of keeping Shaw.

Before Philadelphia, Shaw spent the 2021–22 season with the Vancouver Canucks as an assistant. During that year, Vancouver’s defense improved from 26th to 7th in league rankings. Also during that season, defenseman Quinn Hughes recorded a career-high 60 assists and 8 goals under Shaw’s guidance. Now, in New Jersey, Shaw will work with Hughes’ younger brother, Luke, a key part of the Devils’ defense.

From 2016 to 2021, Shaw coached the Columbus Blue Jackets. During his five seasons there, Columbus reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs four times. The team’s defense, which ranked 29th in the league before Shaw arrived, jumped to 2nd place in his first season.

Prior to that, Shaw had a ten-year run with the St. Louis Blues. He started there in 2006 as an assistant and later became an associate coach. Between 2011 and 2016, St. Louis ranked in the top 10 in team defense each season, including four top-five finishes and a first-place ranking in 2011–12. In 2005–06, the Blues had the 28th-ranked defense, showing the impact Shaw made. During his time in St. Louis, he also worked with Martin Brodeur, who was a goalie there in the 2014–15 season and later became the club’s assistant general manager. Today, Brodeur is the Devils’ Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations.

Shaw’s NHL coaching career began in 1999 with the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 2005, he joined the New York Islanders as an assistant coach. Midway through that season, he took over as interim head coach and led the team to an 18-18-4 record. Earlier in his career, he coached in the AHL and IHL, including a stint with the Detroit Vipers, where he served as both head coach and player-coach. In the 2000–01 season, he coached Sheldon Keefe, who was just starting his professional playing career.

As a player, Shaw was a right-handed defenseman drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1982, 86th overall in the fifth round. He played 377 NHL games from 1985 to 1999, scoring 22 goals and 137 assists for 159 points. He played for Hartford, Ottawa, Washington, and St. Louis, also adding 12 points in 23 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Now, he comes to a Devils team that finished the 2024–25 regular season with a 42-33-7 record. They made the playoffs but were eliminated in five games by the Carolina Hurricanes. Shaw joins a coaching staff that includes Jeremy Colliton, Sergei Brylin, and David Rogalski.

He will have the chance to coach a young and skilled defensive group, including Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, and veterans like Dougie Hamilton, Jonas Siegenthaler, and newly acquired players Brett Pesce and Johnathan Kovacevic.With his background, Shaw is expected to improve their defensive structure while also helping them generate more offense.

Outside hockey, Shaw was born on April 28, 1964, in Cambridge, Ontario. He and his wife Mary, who writes children’s books, have two daughters—Taylore and Caroline—and a son, Brady. They also have two grandsons, Jett and Lane.