BLOG: Ruff's Coaching Staff Brings Fresh Ideas

When Devils Head Coach Lindy Ruff assembled his coaching staff this off-season he brought in new faces from various different organizations to bring a fresh perspective.
"I think what I have is I have new ideas from a lot of different directions. There's a freshness," said Ruff about the coaching staff he assembled in New Jersey. "I think what I've done is I stepped outside a little bit of that comfort zone myself and I welcomed the opportunity to work with guys that brought ideas from different areas. For me it's been a great experience."
Practice Coverage from Tuesday

Ruff retained one assistant coach from the previous season, Alain Nasreddine. Nasreddine, who served as the team's interim head coach for part of last season, enters his sixth year with the franchise.
Outside of Nasreddine, everyone else on the staff is new to the Devils coaching staff. Assistant Coach Mark Recchi comes from the Pittsburgh Penguins where he was an assistant coach for the last three years. Chris Taylor was the Head Coach of the Rochester Americans since the 2017-18 season. Rounding out the staff is Dave Rogalski who joins the Devils from St. Louis as the Goaltending Coach.
"Mark [Recchi] coming out of Pittsburgh where they had a lot of success. [Nasreddine], who's come out of [the Devils] and has been around different coaches, Chris Taylor who's been around different coaches, has got head coaching experience himself at the American League level," said Ruff. "So for me it was a newness, I wanted input, I wanted new ideas…it's been great so far."