Devils bring back the college of coaches

In a decision that can only be called puzzling,the New Jersey Devils announced that Lou Lamoriello will be taking the reigns as head coach for a undetermined amount of time with Scott Stevens and Adam Oates being brought in as 'co-coaches' for the rest of the season.
Stevens will be given "complete control of the defensemen" with Oates having the same power with the forwards.
Mike Foligno and Chris Terreri were retained as assistants,while Dave Barr was relieved of his assisting duties.

The title line was a reference to the Chicago Cubs ill-fated "College of Coaches" idea where coaches rotated among themselves for a certain period of time and then rotate.
The Devils plan isn't exactly like that,but the similarity is that you have five coaches running around,two of them with equal authority,but neither running the show.
I have no idea how well Scott Stevens and Adam Oates get along or like each other,but they had better get along well because this has the potential to divide and explode a locker room.
What it also could do is possibly lead to a power struggle between the two for the full time job.
I'd would have preferred Lou Lamoriello to pick one or the other and then the assistant given extra duties in their area of expertise.

What I also wonder about is just how the Devils are going to handle the buildup to the trade deadline.
Is this a desperate move to try to pull a playoff run out of nowhere?
Is this Lamoriello using Oates and Stevens to get a close look at the team for an analysis of who is a building block and who should be jettisoned at the deadline to bring in whatever they can get for the guys that aren't part of the future?
Could this be (I think this is only a remote chance) that this is a shell game to distract from a possible chance of falling through the floor for a shot at Connor McDavid?

I don't have any of the answers to these questions as those will be answered on the ice and in the locker room,but to me this smacks of a desperate move by Lou Lamoriello.
I'm all for keeping Scott Stevens in a high profile role in the organization and I respect Adam Oates a lot,but this seems like a too many cooks and not enough waiters situation.
This will either be an innovative move or a ridiculous one.
I lean towards the latter,but hoping for the former....