Former HC Bruce Boudreau makes feelings known on Sheldon Keefe publicly slamming $20,000,000 Devils D-man

Former NHL coach Bruce Boudreau weighed in on New Jersey Devils coach Sheldon Keefe's criticism of defenseman John Kovacevic.

Kovacevic told reporters after the 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators that he felt the Devils need to adopt more of a playoff mentality for the stretch run. When Keefe was asked about Kovacevic's comments, he responded before abruptly ending the press conference:

"Kovacevic just needs to play better. That would help."

On TSN's OverDrive podcast, Boudreau said he was surprised by Keefe's rebuke of his own player through the media.

"I don’t know. I mean, I’ve heard Sheldon, but I can’t recall having a response like that right away," Boudreau said (16:00). "I think Kovy was saying everything as a team, and Sheldon just came up and buried him. I mean, like, he did."

Boudreau noted that while Keefe criticized young stars like Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner last season when coaching the Maple Leafs, he usually walked back those comments a day later. He doesn't expect Keefe to retract his criticism of Kovacevic, though.

"I don’t think it does any good when the player is trying to say the right things, and then the coach just comes up and buries him," Boudreau said. "I don’t think that’s a positive approach."

Boudreau sympathized with Keefe's frustration, acknowledging the Devils' inconsistency this season despite their solid playoff positioning. But he didn't approve of Keefe calling out Kovacevic so bluntly through the media.

The Devils are third in the Metropolitan Division with 81 points. With 10 games left, they might still be in a decent spot but have gone a rough 4-6-1 stretch over their last 11 games.

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NHL analyst Frank Seravalli shares take on Sheldon Keefe's comments on John Kovacevic

On Daily Faceoff Live, NHL analyst Frank Seravalli reckons Sheldon Keefe made a mistake in publicly criticizing Kovacevic, who was trying to hold his teammates accountable.

"Why are you hitting your guy with some friendly fire?" Seravalli said. "I'm all for a hard quip every now and again from a coach to send a message, but that's a guy standing in front of a microphone saying all the right things for your team."

Seravalli found Sheldon Keefe's comments to be a "tactical error" that underscored the struggles the Devils have faced this season. Rather than rallying around John Kovacevic's leadership, Keefe's rebuke could instead divide the struggling squad.