FEATURE: Lindy Ruff Ready to Solve the Puzzle

Lindy Ruff likes to joke, he must be the first-ever coach in NHL history to be hired over Zoom.

Earlier this month, Ruff was introduced by general manager Tom Fitzgerald as the 19th head coach in franchise history. With him, Ruff brings an incredible amount of experience and presence. Since being named head coach, Ruff has reached out to his new players, meeting them via video chat. It's the start of building a relationship with his players, staying ready for the tentative November 17, training camp date.

Ruff spoke candidly and offered an insight into his vision on how to manage an NHL locker room, answering Black and Red member's questions earlier this week.

This isn't Ruff's first rodeo with an up-and-coming team, filled with young talent, and untapped potential. He's done it before and hopes to replicate the experience again with New Jersey.

"I coached in Buffalo and all these young kids came up together," Ruff said, "And all of a sudden, we got real good real fast."

When he joined the Dallas Stars, he turned their program around with 40, 41, and a 50-win season in his first three years respectively. It was the first time the Stars had won 50 games in a season since 2007. Tyler Seguin and Jaime Benn had some of their best offensive seasons under Ruff.

Lindy just has a knack for it. He's been fortunate to be able to coach some exceptional young talent, which will be no different with the Devils. With the likes of Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Mackenzie Blackwood, and Jesper Bratt, the best is certainly yet to come.

"It's a team that's on its way up, the young talent is there," Ruff said, "The young talent is on its way up, we've got to build, we've got to put some pieces in the right place. […] the conversations I had with Tom [Fitzgerald] leading into becoming the head coach of the New Jersey Devils, circled around all this young talent and putting them in the right place, and putting them in a place where they can succeed."

As a coach, it's about leaning on your strengths. For Ruff communication, evaluation and empowerment are fundamental to success.

"I think the number one would be communication, relating to the players," Ruff explained, "Communicating with the players is a strength, I think being able to evaluate what a player can bring. So, the evaluating of the players, 'can this player be a New Jersey Devil? Does he fit into the way we play? That would be number two. And then I think the third one is empowering the people around me, the coaches around me, because I know this isn't a one-man job, we're going to need the coaching staff to get the job done. So, for me, that would be my top three."

Communication is a word you'll hear often from not only Ruff but the entire Devils front office. It's also about adapting your communication, understanding the difference between players 15 years ago, and the young talent that is arriving in the NHL now. It is a different type of athlete.

Ruff really honed in on the communication between young players, in his three seasons with the New York Rangers as an assistant coach. He has been involved in head coaching since 1997, but players have changed since his first foray. Lindy understands that. Like New Jersey, the Rangers also have a young core, particularly on defense, that Ruff worked with. He watched intently the way players communicated and saw the game between one another and learned from that experience.

"I think sometimes the way we see the game as coaches isn't the way a young player sees it," Ruff said, "and a lot of these young players had have had success or a lot of success at the levels they've played at. And it's a lot tougher league when you get to this point then than where you came from. And I think they want that success a lot quicker than it may come at times.

"So, a lot of that was the conversations I had with players on, 'you'll get there, you're going to need some patience, you're going to need to play a team game and play inside our system.'So, the three years [in New York], the communication with the players that I was around is the one thing that I'm going to bring over."

Now Ruff will take the time to really familiarize himself with each player, understand who they are on the ice, how they can be impactful. Like many of us have done during the coronavirus pandemic, Ruff will be focusing on a puzzle. The puzzle of putting the roster together.

"Each player has a different skill package," he said. "For me, it will be trying to put those pieces in the right places, where they'll have the most success. And I think with the young players, they want to know that they're going to be counted on in key situations, that they're going to be an important part of the team. And as a coach, it's going to be my job to help develop that and put them in that position to help succeed and at the same time be very demanding of what how we need to play as a team to be successful."