New Jersey Devils: 5 Players Lindy Ruff Can Impact Most
New New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff will have an impact on offense.
On Thursday afternoon, the New Jersey Devils introduced the hockey world to their new head coach Lindy Ruff. We’ve already made it clear it’s not our favorite move. We think it’s a mistake because of how it’s going to impact the team defense, which is by far the team’s weakness. However, there’s no denying what he can do for a team’s offense.
Ruff has helped some of the best names in the business take a step offensively over his three decades of coaching. Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek, Tyler Seguin, and Jamie Benn are just a small mark on the game he has in terms of development. The rap sheet speaks for itself. Ruff is a man who can develop offensive talent whether it’s young or old.
There is where we have confidence in the future of the New Jersey Devils. Maybe there will be a lot more night that Mackenzie Blackwood is asked to go crazy in net. There will likely be some nights the Devils need five goals to win, if not more.
There is no doubt that some Devils players didn’t progress the way we hoped under John Hynes. There were some strange lineup decisions, some healthy scratches that seemed to come out of nowhere, and there was no chance to build chemistry amongst the lineup. Under Ruff, there will at least be some consistency. For some players, that’s all they will need to excel.
We looked at the Devils roster and the players that we expected more out of at this point. Ruff is going to give the Devils a new look, and now the fans are going to at least some fun offensive hockey. These players are going to see the biggest boost from this hiring.
Jack Hughes
This one probably feels like the most obvious. That’s why it’s the one that came up during the Devils Zoom meeting to introduce Lindy Ruff to the media and the fans. Ruff talked about needing to find the right players to play with Hughes. We’ve already heard that Hughes is focusing on gaining some weight before next season. He has another five months to put that weight on before the season starts.
Hughes has to be one of the reasons the Devils made this move. Ruff is 60 years old, so he’s not in this for the long haul. However, if he can make a major impact on Hughes for the next three to five years, then it will all be worth it.
Hughes needs to make it work at the center position. That means Ruff should focus on Hughes offensive prowess. Hughes is not going to be like Nico Hischier where he’s playing an insane two-way game. He’s going to be an offensive dynamo that drives the play. His best defense is going to be carrying the puck out of the zone or starting a breakout.
Hughes season was clearly nowhere near up to snuff last season. He wasn’t going to be like previous number-one overall picks where he dominated the league right away, but we sure hoped he did better than 21 points in 61 games. What’s even worse is that nine of those points came in an eight-game span. That leaves 12 points in the other 53 games. He’s not providing much as an 18 year old if he’s not scoring points, so in more games than not, Hughes did not make a positive contribution on the ice.
We expect that to change under Ruff.
Miles Wood
Miles Wood is a very interesting player on this team. He was outstanding in 2017-18, scoring 19 goals in 76 games. He was helped by a ridiculous 11.2% shooting percentage (well, ridiculous for him), but we still thought he had room to grow. After a contract holdout that lasted into the next season’s training camp, Wood was signed to a four-year deal. The speedster was sticking with the Devils at a $2.75 million cap number.
Since then, he’s scored 10 and 11 goals in the past two seasons. This might be the biggest drop of any Devils player since that last playoff berth. Wood has been in and out of the lineup, moved on multiple different lines, and eventually, he settled on the fourth line. Wood is known more as a punch line than he is as a contributing player in every game. It’s sad because he was a fan favorite just two years ago.
His speed, grit, and skill could fit well into the fast-attacking approach Ruff might go for. Wood is just missing something. He’s been given opportunities, as we saw by him playing next to Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri at the end of the season. Something has just held him back. Maybe Ruff is the right coach to get him to become the finisher we all wish he could be.
Last season, Wood was letting this all get to his head. It shows by his advanced stats. He was on the ice for as many high-danger attempts as he was the season before, but the other team got an inexplicable 178 high-danger chances against him at 5v5. We know that Wood is a boom-or-bust player, but this was the first season it was bust on a much bigger clip. Ruff may be able to put him in the right situation that gets the best Miles Wood possible.
Michael McLeod
Michael McLeod is just someone who needs a coach that focuses on his offense. He’s been allergic to goals in the NHL. In 33 games, McLeod has had zero goals. That’s over his career. He hasn’t even fallen into a goal in his career. Even at his worst, John Quenneville was able to score one goal.
The Devils have to be close to changing their plans with McLeod. He’s still very young enough, but at 22 years old, a 1st-round pick is supposed to be contributing at the NHL level at this point. Not only is he not contributing, but he’s wasting a roster spot.
On the Devils, McLeod still has a very specific role laid out for him. If the Devils allow Kevin Rooney to hit free agency, then McLeod can slide into that fourth-line center spot. If he does get that opportunity, he needs to contribute offensively. Unlike a player like Pavel Zacha, he’s not good enough defensively to make up for the issues he’s having offensively.
As we’ve said, Lindy Ruff can get the offense out of skilled players. We’ve seen what McLeod can do when he dominated juniors for the Mississauga Steelheads. Somewhere, he completely lost his way. It seems clear that he has a major confidence issue, and maybe Ruff is the guy to bring out the best in McLeod. In all honesty, of all the players on the roster, McLeod might need a coach like Ruff more than anyone else.
Jesper Bratt
Speaking of hitting his offensive upside, Jesper Bratt has been a player that’s been at the cusp since coming to the NHL from Sweden. He’s had stretches of pure greatness. To start his career, he had six points in his first three games. After a strong first 13 games, he struggled to find the scoring touch on a consistent basis.
His sophomore season was one filled with injuries and frustration. It seemed like as he was finally getting momentum, he was forced to miss the rest of the season with a lower-body injury. He had 13 points in the last 14 games of that season.
We know what happened this season. Bratt was once again inconsistent. Things hit a fever pitch when Alain Nasreddine decided to make him a healthy scratch as he seemed like he was gaining momentum. He ended up with 16 points in his final 20 games, despite the Devils losing players like Blake Coleman, Sami Vatanen, Andy Greene, and Wayne Simmonds in that span.
The one thing that’s been clear about Bratt’s career is he needs someone who can consistently lift him up. We have confidence that Coach Ruff can find the right line to put Bratt on, and once that happens the Devils will have another bonafide scorer. We might forget that Bratt is still just 21 years old and that there is a lot of growth still needed to figure out the player he will be moving forward.
Jesper Boqvist
Jesper Boqvist is this season’s forgotten prospect. When looking forward to who might be the biggest contributors to next season’s team, we hear people mention players like McLeod, Nolan Foote, Janne Kuokkanen, and Nick Merkley. However, the answer should always include Jesper Boqvist. Outside of Ty Smith, Boqvist is the prospect that going to make the most impact next season.
He was dominant in the AHL. On most nights, he was the best player on the ice in his short time in Binghamton. After getting used to his demotion and getting some consistent playing time, he became a scoring machine. He’s got some of the best combination of talents on this team, and he needs a coach that can unlock his greatness.
If Boqvist is able to take one of the Devils open winger positions, it would make the Devils situation a lot better. He needs to be a scorer because the Devils absolutely need scorers right now. He showed flashes, but there were some things holding him back this season. Under Coach Ruff, Boqvist might be able to unlock something he couldn’t get from John Hynes and Alain Nasreddine.
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If Ruff can spend a few seasons with the Devils, unlock the offensive production of their young guys, then this will look like a great signing. Boqvist is one of the Devils most important prospects in the entire system. He needs to be taken in the right direction.