Devils fire coach Pete DeBoer

The New Jersey Devils have fired coach Pete DeBoer, the team confirmed Friday.

General manager Lou Lamoriello will not address the change, however, until he talks with the team's players on Saturday morning.

The Devils (12-17-7) have lost seven of their past eight games and 13 of 16 since Nov. 22.

They have the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference and are nine points out of a playoff spot.

DeBoer, 46, went 114-93-41 in 3 seasons with the Devils.

New Jersey made an unexpected run to the Stanley Cup finals in DeBoer's first season. The sixth-seeded Devils lost to the Los Angeles Kings in six games.

The Devils missed the playoffs the next two seasons.

There was plenty of speculation at the end of last season about DeBoer's future with the organization amid rumors that the Maple Leafs had interest in him as coach. Lamoriello squashed those rumors in an uncharacteristic move, publicly announcing that DeBoer was under contract for the 2014-15 season, though it was widely believed DeBoer was nearing the end of a three-year deal at the time.

ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun and Katie Strang contributed to this report.