John MacLean's Hiring May Be Popular, but Honeymoon Will be Brief

John MacLean may have been the obvious choice once the Devils looked so flat in the first round against the Flyers in April, but his selection as head coach was apparently not a simple one.

MacLean may be a very familiar face in New Jersey, but his hiring is unchartered territory for the Devils and general manager Lou Lamoriello. In officially -- many would say finally -- giving the head job to MacLean on Thursday, Lamoriello is hiring a friend to many in the organization. This could not have been an easy decision. It certainly wasn't a sentimental one.

As he always does, Lamoriello kept his hiring process close to the vest. There were reports that Kirk Muller -- the former Devils captain, longtime close friend of MacLean's and an assistant coach of the Canadiens -- was under consideration. There were others who said former Habs and Penguins coach Michel Therrien was getting the job. Mike Haviland, an assistant with the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks and a former head coach in New Jersey's minor league system, was rumored to be a candidate. While he never even confirmed any interviews, Lamoriello waited until the completion of the Stanley Cup playoffs so he could speak with anyone he deemed worthy.

The GM went through his process and, in the end, decided to choose the man he knew better than the rest. The 45-year-old MacLean played 934 games as a Devil, fourth-most in franchise history. He is the team's all-time leading goal scorer. After his retirement as a player, he has coached in the organization for eight seasons -- seven as an assistant (including the Cup-winning squad of 2002-03) and last year as head coach of the club's American Hockey League affiliate in Lowell.

His lack of head coaching experience was a factor in getting passed over for the Devils' top job in recent years when it went to Claude Julien, Brent Sutter and last season to Jacques Lemaire. However, it's just as likely Lamoriello needed more separation after the beloved Johnny Mac's time as the player-friendly assistant coach. The Devils' new bench boss will also be leading three former teammates from New Jersey: Martin Brodeur, Patrik Elias and Brian Rolston. He was a teammate of captain Jamie Langenbrunner in Dallas.

MacLean's choice is an extremely popular one inside the Devils family, with the media and with the fan base. The return of Larry Robinson as assistant coach makes it a Devil worshippers' dream. These kind of honeymoons tend to be brief. With a shortage of high-end prospects, the Devils are still in win-now mode. Jacques Lemaire's one-season encore, so spirited in the first half, was deemed a failure with the five-game loss to Philadelphia ending so dismally on the ice of the new barn in Newark. The path from "Johnny Mac" to "John Must Go" can be a brief one in pro hockey.

By the end of October, McLean's Q rating will come down to two factors: whether he can coach the Devils' way, and if Lamoriello has provided him with the talent to be a contender. New Jersey's head coach can be a rising star from the Canadiens organization (Julien), a former Islanders captain (Sutter) or even a returning Devils Cup-winner (Lemaire). The leading goal scorer in franchise history may be behind the bench now, but the New Jersey Devils will always be Lamoriello's show.