The New Jersey Devils stood pat with Lindy Ruff this offseason despite his contract ending. There was no way the Devils would let him go, and we didn’t see Ruff pulling a Mike Babcock or Barry Trotz, leaving their team on a high note. (Obviously talking about Babcock in Detroit and not Toronto, but more on him later.) While we don’t know the terms of Ruff’s deal or if there even is one in place at this moment, it’s pretty clear Ruff is returning.
The Devils are bringing back Ruff while the Metropolitan Division had a lot of coaching turnover. The New York Rangers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Washington Capitals all hired new coaches. Each hire came with a different level of expectation and excitement.
While the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins still hold two of the best coaches in the league in Rod Brind’Amour and Mike Sullivan, the Rangers added Peter Laviolette, the Blue Jackets added Babcock, and the Capitals added Spencer Carbery. It changes the dynamic of the division.
Let’s start with the Rangers. The Game 7 loss to the Devils ended the coaching tenure of Gerard Gallant. Gallant was a top pick for Devils fans when they hired Ruff. He eventually waited and took the Devils’ job. Ironically, Laviolette was another candidate for the Devils’ job, and now he’s coaching the Devils’ top rival.
Laviolette left the Washington Capitals after three meek years in the top job. Now, he goes to New York in one of the most anti-climactic job searches we’ve ever seen. The other big name on their list was Jon Hynes. Now, Lav takes over a team that is hoping to pry open their Cup window after a first-round exit has brass questioning where to go next.
However, Laviolette isn’t known for getting the most out of young players, and that’s what the Rangers need right now. Maybe he will get Artemi Panarin back to his best ways, but will he get the most out of Filip Chytil, Alexis Lafreniere, and Kaapo Kakko?
The Spencer Carbery hiring has us intrigued, but the Capitals might be too far gone. They added Max Pacioretty, who is an interesting player for this roster. He’s coming off another Achilles tear, so who knows if he’s the same player. Connor Brown was their other signing. It’s not exactly enough to fix the issues that led to a postseason where golf was the number one objective.
Carbery might be a good coach, but is he the right coach for this team? He was great at driving offense in Toronto, especially on the power play. That is the one thing the Capitals did incredibly well. Alexander Ovechkin is the greatest power-play scorer in NHL history.
Can Carbery get this team to score at 5v5? They were in the middle of the pack there. With Darcy Kuemper a year older, the entire star core fighting the injury bug (outside Ovechkin), and a team that is the definition of mediocre, they need a superstar coach. A rookie might not be the right choice.
Then, there’s the decision the Blue Jackets made. They had a legitimate chance to make a jump this season. The Anaheim Ducks screwed up and let the Jackets draft Adam Fantilli. He can make the NHL next season. So might David Jiricek, the superstar prospect defenseman. Add this to a team with Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine, and this is an offense on the cusp of cooking.
Unfortunately, the coach in charge of all of this is Mike Babcock. He’s in charge of a team of very young, skilled players. Also, does Gaudreau and Laine seem like the players Babcock won a Cup with so many years ago?
It was a bizarre hire, and it will hold the Blue Jackets back. They could have bounced back this year with a normal coach. Instead, they hired Babcock.
Great coaches can turn bad situations into good ones. They can single-handedly turn mediocre teams into playoff teams. These three coaches aren’t there. Two seem past their prime, and the other needs a little more seasoning. For now, the Devils are thanking their rivals for making these decisions.