New Jersey Devils: If Lindy Ruff Does Get Fired, Who Are Replacement Options?

Kevin Dineen

Unlike in 2019, the New Jersey Devils AHL team is dominating the league. Kevin Dineen is in his first year as head coach, and he’s pushed them to one of the biggest turnarounds in the sport. The Binghamton Devils were the worst team in the league last season. This season, Dineen has the Utica Comets (the Devils new affiliates) in first place with a 17-1-2 record. That’s right, the Comets have one regulation loss all season.

The Comets are getting close to untouchable in the standings. They are 10 points up on the Rochester Americans, the second-place team in the division. They are even tied with the Chicago Wolves for the best record in the league, and the Wolves have played three more games than the Comets.

Dineen is clearly a good coach. He has this team going in the right direction. The only real issue here is disrupting the flow of everything by making Dineen the head coach of the New Jersey Devils. He has to take his system away from Utica and take it to New Jersey. This then hurts the development of some of the most important Devils prospects, players they hope will produce for them for a long time. They have to find a replacement AHL coach in the middle of the season, and then they have to hope the guys respond to them.

On top of that, are the current assistant coaches just going to listen to a guy who inserts himself into the head coaching position that easily? They probably have to find new assistant coaches, which honestly might be something they have to do anyway.