Lindy Ruff and the New Jersey Devils need to make Nico Hischier the captain.
The New Jersey Devils made a decision on their coach just over a week ago. They named Lindy Ruff as their new head coach and it has had some very mixed reviews. He has been a very successful coach in the National Hockey League but hasn’t been a head coach in a few years. He is coming off a year where he was the New York Rangers defense coach and their fans seemed pretty happy to see him go.
Believe it or not, despite being the Rangers defensive coach he seems to be a guy that is looked at as an offensive-minded coach. He helped a whole bunch of guys (including some New York Rangers defensemen) turn themselves into offensive studs. One of the guys we are hoping that he helps rack up points is Nico Hischier. He is an outstanding two-way player but the offense still has a lot of room for improvement.
One thing that Lindy Ruff can do to help Hischier’s confidence is to make him the captain of the New Jersey Devils. The Devils traded Andy Greene to the New York Islanders at the trade deadline and they have had a vacant captaincy since. Hischier seems to be next in line to take that mantle for a very long time.
The Devils locked up Nico Hischier to a long term deal for a lot of money before he really reached his ceiling. Everyone who has watched every game he plays knows just how good of a player he is now. He doesn’t have a point per game season under his belt yet but there is no doubt he will get there. He will get there and it won’t be at the price of his elite two-way game. It is going to be a lot of fun to watch this kid lead the team for a long time.
What makes him captain material is the fact that he carries himself in a way that any captain would. He would do anything for this team to win, whether it shows on the scoresheet or not. He went after someone for kneeing Kyle Palmieri in his first NHL game which showed that he was a future captain from day one. There is no doubt that he is so important to this team both on and off the ice.
Lindy Ruff might have something else in mind but if he was smart, he would name Nico Hischier as the captain of this team right now. There is no reason to name someone else as the captain because any of the other good candidates might not be there for a long time. Hischier is there for the long haul so they might as well give it to him now.