Devils retaining Ruff as head coach

*Photo from Sportsnet*

   The offseason has just started, but we already have a declaration. New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald confirmed that Lindy Ruff will return as head coach of the team for the 2023-2024 season.

   Fitzgerald said that "Four years ago, I was looking for the right coach for this organization. So, here we are today. He's still the right coach for this group. He's earned that right. He deserves that and we deserve him. He's a great partner for me and those kids love him. There's no such thing as a perfect coach, but he's got the utmost respect from our players, from us and from ownership. He's still the right guy for this job."

   Ruff's 3 year contract expires on June 30, with both sides currently working towards a new contract to keep him around. He led the Devils to the second round after their best regular season in team history with a 52-22-8 record. Ruff is also a finalist for the Jack Adams award.

   Over 3 seasons with the Devils, Ruff has amassed a 98-98-24 record. All time, he has a 834-652-149 record with 78 ties while coaching the Devils, Buffalo Sabres, and Dallas Stars. He ranks 5th all time among head coaches in wins and games coached.

   Ruff said on Saturday at the Devils year end interviews that "I'm going to tell you I had a lot of fun this year, to see these guys operate and do what they did. I couldn't have painted a better picture from Day One with some of the goals we set during the regular season. We were an exciting team. We were a fast team that improved in a lot of areas."

   During the historic regular season, the Devils set team records in wins and points with 52 and 112. The 49 point improvement they had from 2021-2022 is also a league record, when they had just 27 wins. This postseason was the first time they advanced past the first round since 2012.

   The Devils have plenty of potential roster turnover ahead of them. Tomas Tatar, Erik Haula, Miles Wood, Damon Severson, and Ryan Graves are pending UFA's, while Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt, Michael McLeod, Jesper Boqvist, Nathan Bastian, Kevin Bahl, Yegor Sharangovich, and MacKenzie Blackwood are pending RFA's.