Devils fire Lindy Ruff

     After what I saw watching the New Jersey Devils lose on Sunday to the Los Angeles Kings, I thought the time may have come for the end of the Lindy Ruff era in New Jersey.

Fans had been hollering for the scalp of Ruff for weeks with the Devils disappointing this season and currently needing to jump three teams to make the postseason, which doesn't seem likely at this point and they got it Monday as Tom Fitzgerald dropped the axe on Ruff.

Former Vancouver Canucks coach Travis Green was promoted from assistant coach to serve as the interim coach for the remainder of the season.

Green coached the Canucks for four and a half years, making the playoffs once, winning one series in the Covid-19 season.

It seems like it's too late to salvage this season with twenty-one games to go and seven points out of the playoffs but I think the move had to be done mainly to get the stink out of the team and give them a fresh start for next season.

That's not to say all the blame for the season goes on Ruff.

Tom Fitzgerald's off-season moves made sense at the time and I still have no issues with the transactions that were made, my problems then and now were these- gambling that Vitek Vanecek could repeat his 2022-23 season ( I was in the camp of that being unlikely) and hoping that Akira Schmid could build off his postseason play and continue to develop (I thought this was possible but not guaranteed) in net to give the Devils solid if unspectacular goaltending.

Lindy Ruff didn't injure Dougie Hamilton and he didn't injure Jack Hughes for portions of the season but he tended to play questionable veterans too much (Brendan Smith for one)  at the expense of players who are hoped to be part of the future contender (Alexander Holtz as an example), and what I was surprised to see from a coach with so much experience most was that Ruff just seemed to run out of any ideas to change a season that has been spinning its wheels in the mud.

Lindy Ruff was given every chance to turn the tide and even more chances than he deserved but for the final twenty-plus games, the New Jersey Devils have reached a fork in the road that will tell the tale of who is to blame for a season with unfulfilled promise.

Was the problem created by Tom Fitzgerald by managing a roster that while skilled, lacked physicality?

Or will the team come together and prove that the problem was Lindy Ruff's use of that personnel and his game management?

The answer to that question may not salvage or ruin the season but it may decide the future of Travis Green, Tom Fitzgerald, and some members of the roster in New Jersey. 

Devils extend Timo Meier

  Tom Fitgerald just hasn't stopped during NHL draft week and maybe it's because the New Jersey Devils do not possess a first-round pick in the draft but Fitzgerald has been taking care of business with his latest transaction locking up the player that cost the Devils that missing first-rounder.

The Devils signed winger Timo Meier to an eight-year extension worth over seventy million dollars and removed Meier from the free agent marker.

While Meier was a restricted free agent and the Devils could have matched any contract offer, I've always thought that teams are far better off in avoiding another team extending an offer sheet by signing the player themselves.

It avoids other teams from getting into the player's ear and allows both sides to keep any hard feelings from building up, such as the team possibly feeling that they paid more than they had to or accepting a poison pill such as a no-trade clause or the player resenting the team matching an offer when he had wanted to leave town.

Meier turns twenty-seven just before opening night, and the agreement locks Meier into price certainty (8.8. million average) for eight years, which covers his prime seasons and may even allow Meier to end his career as a Devil.

Meier scored forty goals last season, nine of those with New Jersey, after being obtained from San Jose for a package of prospects, this year's first-round pick, and a 2024 second-rounder that could become a first round, if the Devils hit certain marks in the 2024 postseason.

You have to like this signing after paying such a price to acquire him and considering his age, past production, and that he still has some prime seasons ahead of him, the only minor complaint may be that the Devils might be overpaying him for the final season or two of the contract.

And even that is part of the cost of doing business in this era, as teams realize that is likely to occur but the trade-off is worth it with the cost certainty and the likelihood that contracts are only going to continue to rise as the years click by.

With Meier and Jesper Bratt signed and in the fold for the long term, the Devils have a case for having the most exciting two lines in hockey with various combinations that include Meier, Bratt, Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, newcomer Tyler Toffoli, and either Dawson Mercer or Alexander Holtz.

New Jersey finished fourth in the league last season in goals scored, and when you add in an entire season with Timo Meier and now the addition of Tyler Toffoli, it's not unrealistic to believe that the Devils could threaten the Edmonton Oilers for the top spot in the category next season.

While Devils fans have to be thrilled with Tom Fitzgerald's off-season work in signing Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt to long-term contacts, trading for Tyler Toffoli, and signing veteran Erik Haula to a three-year agreement, the Devils still have a few needs to fill.

The biggest concern is in the net as should Fitzgerald let it ride, the Devils will have to hope that Vitek Vanecek can repeat his regular season work and that his playoff slide isn't a sign of things to come, along with hoping that Akira Schmid's postseason play is representative of his future, instead of getting hot at the right time.

I'm not sure how the goaltending is going to go but it's a gamble to double-down on Vanecek/Schmid, although I'm not sure who would be available that would be a big improvement other than Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck and Winnipeg will have a high asking price on him.

I also would be in the market for a veteran defenseman that could fit into the third pairing with Ryan Graves likely to sign elsewhere in free agency, a reasonably priced veteran could give the team a little bit of depth and insurance in the event of some rookie struggles from either or both Luke Hughes or Simon Nemec.

Other than those potential additions, the Devils look set for a strong season and for many seasons in the future as well.

I don't claim to know very much about the hockey draft prospects but I'm likely to try to put something together about the player that the Devils select with their first pick in round two tomorrow and in the event that Tom Fitzgerald has another transaction in mind, I'm sure I'll add something about that as well.

Devils hire Lindy Ruff

The New Jersey Devils have apparently made a decision on the future of their front office as NHL Network's Kevin Weekes reported that the team will retain Tom Fitzgerald as the general manager, removed the interim status in his title and will name Lindy Ruff as the next head coach of the Devils.

Fitzgerald served as the team's interim general manager for part of the 2019-20 season after the firing of Ray Shero after a season of increased expectations turned out to be very disappointing and it was Fitzgerald that made the Devils trades near the deadline, although it was Shero that finalized the trade that sent Taylor Hall to the Arizona Coyotes.

Lindy Ruff has been the head coach for two teams, coaching Buffalo for fifteen seasons and then moving to Dallas to lead the Stars for four more before the Stars let him go following the 2016-17 season.
Ruff led Buffalo to the playoffs in eight of his fifteen seasons, would take Dallas twice in his four seasons there, the Sabres made four conference finals, and it was Ruff that was victimized by the most controversial call in Stanley Cup history in the famous "Skate in the crease" game when Brett Hull scored the game-winning goal in the third overtime of game six with his skate in the crease while possessing the puck, which was illegal by the rules of the time (1999) and should have been waved off.
Instead, the goal was allowed to stand with the goal, game, series, and Stanley Cup going to Dallas all on one play that shouldn't have counted.
Ruff has served as an assistant with the New York Rangers since leaving Dallas and the Rangers fans don't seem to be all that disappointed in losing him as Ruff's duties were with the defense and special teams, both of which have decreased in effectiveness under his tutelage.
I've also been calling him "Lester" for years as I've thought he looks like my uncle Lester.

Devils fans don't seem to be jumping for joy either with Ruff (or really for Fitzgerald either) as the hire and while I'm not thrilled, I'm not mad either.
The Devils talked to five coaches about the job with Ruff, interim coach Alain Nasreddine, former Las Vegas coach Gerard Gallant, well-traveled Peter LaViolette, and John Stevens, previously of the Kings and Flyers, each receiving interviews.
Of that group, I easily preferred Gallant and wanted no part of LaViolette with the other three all in the middle of the pack of less than exciting possibilities.
On paper, LaViolette looks like the class of the field with three trips to the Cup Finals and a win with Carolina in 2006, but I've never cared for his style and I'm not convinced that his coaching style is going work well with younger players as part of a rebuilding process.
I really wanted Gallant for a similar reason- he does well with younger players and he's going to play a quicker paced game and I think that suits the talent that Ray Shero brought to New Jersey best of all the candidates.

This is an unexciting hire and often the best hires aren't thrilling, but occasionally they can be the right one.
The Devils are gambling a little that Lindy Ruff's best days aren't in the past, but it's not an awful risk.
Tom Fitzgerald is a higher risk in personnel, but the team seemed to have their mind made up on him early as they didn't interview any other candidates (at least that I know of) as possible replacements.
The Devils are one bad hire from hitting that dreaded floor with a thud and without a bounce.
With luck, Tom Fitzgerald and Lindy Ruff will turn the Devils into a contender because should they fail the recovery period could be a long wait away.

Devils fire Ray Shero as GM

In one of the two news items that were rather large on Sunday for TRS, the New Jersey Devils announced the "mutual parting of the ways" with general manager Ray Shero shortly before their game with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

I watched the game and the Devils notched their second win on consecutive evenings against Eastern Conference powerhouses after a Saturday pasting of Washington on the road, with a 2-1 win over Tampa Bay.

The Devils currently are in last place in the Metropolitan Division and were next to last in both the Eastern Conference and the entire NHL before their pair of victories moved them past Ottawa in the East and Anaheim and Los Angeles overall and after high expectations for the Devils after drafting Jack Hughes, trading for P.K. Subban, importing Nikita Gusev from the KHL and signing Wayne Simmonds as a free agent, the season can be considered nothing but disappointing thus far.
In addition to those disappointments, the Devils suffered through not the slow team start, but a slow start with Taylor Hall on the ice and off the ice as it seemed unlikely that Hall was going to return to the Devils next season by signing an extension and avoiding the free-agent market.

The trade of Taylor Hall to Arizona well before the trade deadline for a return that some wondered about (Not me, as I don't claim to be a hockey prospect expert), but considering by that point that Hall had decided to test the waters and that for all his talent, Hall can be a fragile egg and with one injury, the Devils could have gotten nothing for Hall.
I won't knock Shero for moving Hall so quickly and the returns for rentals in recent times haven't been as bountiful as in the past, but ownership must have wondered with the deadline on its way about Shero's future and decided to have someone else make the decision on deals to accept for rentals Wayne Simmonds, Andy Greene, and Sami Vatanen.

However, the two problems that hurt Ray Shero, in the end, saw one by his own hand and the other was a problem that he could never solve, yet was not one he created.
The decision to hold onto John Hynes as the head coach for longer than he should have allowed sent this season out of control and put it in the no way out position.
I don't think Hynes is a bad coach and he may do a fine job in Nashville, where he has since been hired, but in such a pivotal season for the franchise, Shero could be blamed for not making that decision fast enough to attempt to derail the downward track.
Loyalty can be an admirable thing, but in this case, it was taken too far.

The other problem was in the net, where Shero was hamstrung by the seven-year contract extension that Cory Schneider was signed to by Lou Lamoriello in 2014.
That contract still has two years to go after this season and the Devils have been unable to solve the problem since 2016-17, which is when Schneider's play began to decline and only got worse in each successive season.
It wasn't Shero's fault to inherit the Schneider contract and it wasn't his fault that Schneider's career fell through the ice, but his inability to find anyone to shore the position up and as a result force-feed Mackenzie Blackwood into the lineup is on his plate and was a major reason for the disappointing Shero tenure.

Assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald was named the interim general manager with Martin Brodeur making his first move into the Devils as an advisor on the hockey side.
Fitzgerald moved to the coaching staff earlier this season as the Devils attempted to right the ship under John Hynes and has been mentioned as a potential GM in the league.
As for Brodeur, who knows whether he would be a successful general manager or not, but considering his status as the greatest player in the organization's history, if he wants this job either now, later, or eventually- he will be the people's choice.
Either of the two could have a leg up on the competition for the permanent job if they can do well in their potential returns in those inevitable deadline trades.

When expectations aren't met, changes will be made and the Devils ownership is likely in the middle of missing the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons, so it makes sense to make the move now and avoid Ray Shero making the decisions for a team that has decided to move on from him.
The question is will the owners make the right choice for the Devils future.
Remember the hire that you make to replace the unsuccessful person is the most important that you can make because if they fail over a five-year term, you have a decade of failure on your hand- That is a mistake that a team in a three-team market simply cannot afford to make.