The New Jersey Devils made a coaching change before the NHL trade deadline.
The team sacked coach Lindy Ruff and selected associate coach Travis Green as temporary coach for the rest of the season, GM-president Tom Fitzgerald stated on Monday.
The Devils are sixth in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division, with a record of 30-27-4 for 64 points. They are seven points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the division, and eight points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card slot.
“I hold our entire organization to the highest levels of accountability to focus on being a competitive team that expects to be a perennial playoff contender,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “Unfortunately, we are not now at that level, therefore I had to make this decision.
“Given our relationship, having this talk with Lindy was really tough. He was the ideal coach to help our young players develop on the ice, and he is an excellent person.”
Green gets his second chance to lead an NHL squad. The 53-year-old coached the Vancouver Canucks for portions of five seasons, from 2017-18 to 2021-22.
“Travis has key experience running benches at the junior, AHL and NHL levels and knows that there are no shortcuts to success,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “He is a high-demanding individual who is familiar with the group and excited about working to get us back on track.”
Ruff, 64, is the fourth most successful coach in NHL history, with 864 victories. He has also coached the fourth-most games, totaling 1,774.
Ruff had been coaching the Devils since the 2020-21 season. He took over after the team finished last in the Metropolitan Division for two consecutive years under John Hynes and temporary Alain Nasreddine. Ruff coached a team that included Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and others as they sought to advance to the playoffs.
New Jersey finished eighth out of eight teams in their division in 2020-21 and 2021-22, but improved significantly in 2022-23. Their squad improved from 63 points in 2021-22 to 112 last season, placing the Devils third in the NHL. They even defeated the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs before losing in the second to the Carolina Hurricanes
This season, the Devils struggled to keep their momentum continuing.
Since the beginning of 2024, the Devils have not won three straight games since November to December 2023. They’ve also had the NHL’s worst power play since January 1, at 11.5 percent, and their 3.49 goals against per game ranks eighth this season.
Ruff’s record with the Devils concludes with 128 wins, 125 defeats, and 28 overtime losses.
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