The New Jersey Devils were not a competitive team in March and April like the directive called for at the beginning of the season. There wasn’t a playoff guarantee or anything like that, but general manager Tom Fitzgerald wanted to see a competitive roster well into March and April. That obviously didn’t happen. Instead, the Devils were basically out of the playoffs by December. Many were calling for Lindy Ruff‘s head back then, but he’s somehow survived despite seven teams getting new head coaches in the middle of the season.
That’s a ridiculous number of coaches who have been fired this year. What’s even more interesting is a lot of the teams are doing much better with their new coaches. The Montreal Canadiens have new life after Martin St. Louis took over behind the bench. He’s not exactly a conventional choice, but he’s an interesting one that has added juice to that team. The Vancouver Canucks look like a completely different team under Bruce Boudreau. Obviously, the Florida Panthers were a different situation, but they are the best team in hockey with Andrew Brunette as head coach.
The Devils haven’t looked to let Lindy Ruff go despite what’s happening around the league. This isn’t to say the Devils should make decisions based on what works and what doesn’t for other teams, but it is interesting to see this one move work for teams across the league.
Ruff is likely a more complicated issue this season. Don’t get us wrong, he’s made some major mistakes. He rode Mackenzie Blackwood into the ground in an attempt to save a season that was already lost. Now, Blackwood is out for the foreseeable future and his spot as the starting Devils goalie is in doubt. He’s also dealt with other injuries incorrectly, and it led to some longer-than-expected issues.
It’s not all his fault. He lost Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, Nico Hischier, Miles Wood, both his goalies, and others for significant portions of the season. Ty Smith fell off a cliff, which really put the defense in some binds. The forward lines haven’t gelled, which can be partially his fault. The power play has been somewhere between acceptable and actual garbage all season. There is no time when it was good.
However, there are a ton of positives. Tops among them is the play of Jack Hughes. He’s turned into a certified superstar under Coach Ruff. When the veteran bench boss came to New Jersey, Hughes was a mess coming off his rookie season. Then, a bout with COVID-19 really put his progression in year two on the wrong track. For Ruff to stick with Hughes and watch him become a superstar is huge.
Other players have turned into surprise stars under Ruff. He finally figured out how to best use Michael McLeod, which is something John Hynes seriously struggled with. He got the best out of Miles Wood, which is something the team missed this season. Yegor Sharangovich is quickly becoming a scoring threat out of nowhere.
Still, the early season stretches from this team were awful. Ruff has had trouble showing he can stop long losing streaks, and the bleeding doesn’t always stop. There have been some big wins over the last few weeks, including the win against the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday night. However, it’s still a lost season.
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The future of Lindy Ruff will come down to who is available. When it comes to coaches available right now, there are quite a few. Mike Babcock and John Tortorella have a long pedigree, but their coaching style and past might not work with a young team like this. Others have failed in previous stops for a reason. There’s also the dream of Rikard Gronberg who’s still coaching in Switzerland. However, the Devils shouldn’t fire Ruff just to bring in a change. It has to be the right coach. Ruff has the team going in the right direction finally. He has some positives. However, as the person who runs Pucks and Pitchforks, I’ve seen two of my writers write pieces about keeping Ruff, and I still disagree. It might not be so obvious, but if they can find a better choice, the Devils should make the move.