Ruff the 'Right Coach for this Group' | FEATURE

Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald has made a lot of moves since taking charge of the team. Whether it was signing his core players (Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier) to long-term contracts. Or landing Dougie Hamilton in free agency. Or acquiring Meier, John Marino and Vitek Vanecek through trade.

But, according to Fitzgerald himself, perhaps his best decision was his choice for head coach.

Lindy Ruff, 63, took over the reins on the Devils bench in 2020. The roster of players sitting in front of him was the youngest in the NHL, stocked with a young core of players in Hischier, Bratt and Hughes.

In Ruff’s first year, the Devils went 19-30-7, the third-worst record in the NHL. In Ruff’s third year, the Devils went 52-21-9, the third-best record in the NHL and a Second Round appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The 52 wins and 112 points are both franchise records, and Ruff was nominated for the Jack Adams Award, given to the NHL’s best coach.

Ruff’s efforts were rewarded Wednesday morning with the signing of a multi-year contract extension with the club.

“I’m humbled by the opportunity. I’m excited by where the group’s at and where we can go,” Ruff said. “I really like where the team is at and I just want to continue.”

The Devils were not an overnight success. The rebuild took a lot of hard years. The talent and skill were high, but raw. They needed molded. They needed developed. That’s where Ruff came in. He laid the foundation of principles and then taught this young group how to execute those principles.

“He set the foundation for the whole team, how all of this started,” Bratt said. “He was a huge part of the success we had last year. For us players, trusting in his system as the way to play. He’s been extremely fair and hard on us for the right reasons, to get better. He still wants to get better every day, same as us. He sets the standard high every day. Which we love about him.”

In the intervening three years since his hiring, Ruff has helped mentor and improve many of the team’s young core players, particularly Hischier, Bratt and Jack Hughes.

“He came in and just let me run. He just said, ‘I think you can be a special player,’” Hughes said. “For me, he’s allowed me to develop as a player and allowed me to be me. He’s allowed me to be myself and he’s empowered me. At the same time, he’s coached me hard. He’s the guy that’s gotten me to where I’m at in my career now. I have a lot of respect for him.”

Where Hughes, 22, is at in his career right now is a top-10 player in the league and a Lady Byng runner-up. He finished with a career-high 43 goals and 99 points (a franchise record scoring total). Meanwhile, Hischier also enjoyed a career year with 31 goals, 49 assists and 80 points en route to a Selke Trophy runner-up. Bratt also set career marks with 32 goals and 73 points.

But Ruff has also nurtured the development of other players following that first year, like Dawson Mercer, Michael Mcleod, Kevin Bahl and Marino to name a few.

“This lineup is a lot different from Year 1, but if you want to look at some of the key pieces and where they’re at, and the type of year that all those guys had last year, that’s the biggest improvement of all,” Ruff said.

The Devils’ lineup is certainly deeper and more talented in 2023-24 than in 2020-21. But Ruff has catered his coaching style to that of his team. Initially, he allowed his young players to make mistakes while in the overall scheme of learning. The short-term pain would lead to a long-term payoff. But as the team has improved, the expectations have also heightened. And the coach’s demands have risen as well.

That message has been delivered and landed well inside the locker room.

“He’s been fair to us,” Hischier said. “That’s a coach you want to play for. You see that on the ice.”

Ruff has had to adapt his coaching style throughout his career behind the bench too, which spans three decades, including 22 years as a head coach in New Jersey, Dallas and Buffalo. He ranks first in wins (834) among active coaches and fifth all-time. Adaptability has allowed Ruff to maintain his longevity and success since the 1990s.

“Coaching is so much different than Year 1,” Ruff said. “You have a partnership with (players) now. They have to understand what you’re trying to do with your coaching staff and we have to understand where they’re coming from. Dealing with those types of players today is a challenge. But if you have the ability to listen and communicate with them, that has come a long way from my Day 1 of coaching, both individuals can grow.”

From disciplinarian to partnership, Ruff has developed and grown as a coach himself. That has been the biggest changed in his coaching philosophy.

“Communicating and dealing with players, dealing with young players, dealing with veteran players, and understanding where they’re coming from,” Ruff said.

And thanks to that, Ruff is still as effective behind the bench in his 60s as he was in his 30s.  

If Fitzgerald’s best decision was hiring Ruff as his head coach, maybe his second-best decision will be extending him beyond this season and into the future.

Or, as he put it: “Four years ago, I was looking for the right coach for this organization on where we were and how we get to where we want to go and watch the development of our core players and how they’ve grown. As we’ve gone along, I’ve always said Lindy Ruff was the right coach for this group.”