Todd Cordell: On the imminent hiring of Lindy Ruff

Unmitigated Disaster with the coaches available! The Devils are starting to look like the NHL version of the Knicks.

"I don’t like this hire. I think Ruff is a coach whose reputation as a coach outweighs his current ability as a coach. He hasn’t accomplished much – as the head man or assistant – in more than a decade, which I guess makes him a good fit for the organization he’s joining."

Todd is sick and tired and not going to take it anymore.

So Aatu Raty, Brandt Clark or Luke Hughes fellas?

We’re screwed big time. 3-5 more years of basement living.

I heard Barry Melrose was unavailable.

Todd Cordell: On the imminent hiring of Lindy Ruff
- Todd.Cordell

At first, I cringed. After settling in for a bit, Ruff may not be that bad. If he runs the O and let's someone else handle the D, it could work. The Devs will never admit it but it is possible that Gallant, Bruce and Pete didn't have any interest in the franchise either (especially with rumors of ownership meddling).

Being a Yankee fan, there was a similar reaction Torre and we know how that worked out. Here's hoping Ruff is half that.

Hi everyone! Long time, hope everyone is well.

I like this. Ruff has been around a while. And correct me if Im wrong, but when he was with Buff, didnt they have a penny pinching roster and he made them competitive?

Hes demanding of young players which is great. But according to Rob Ray, he learned to communicate better with young kids.

I think this move will surprise everyone.

Im glad we have an experienced coach and finally a GM so we can move on.

NJ needed to move in a fresh new thinking direction, the old NHL guard is done. Did NJ really do their homework on this? Was Dallas that happy with him?

When will we see more new blood behind the NHL benches?

The more it settles the more I'm just fine with it. Gotta give him a chance to see what he does.

Wasn't too long ago we hated Nasreddine taking over as coach because of how he coached the defense. That ended up being ok. At worse we get a more experienced version of Nasreddine.

I had very low expectations for next season. This does not move that needle. I was unhappy with the Ruff hiring. If we are a modern team with an analytics bent, I am unsure how they concluded Ruff was the right choice. I think we got stuck with the first to accept the offer. Gallant was not coming here, he is either Seattle bound or a team that disappoints in this year's playoffs. Not a big fan of Lavs style, so compared to Ruff not a huge loss. It just seems this franchise makes asinine after asinine decisions. Chalk one more for them.

Todd Cordell: On the imminent hiring of Lindy Ruff
- Todd.Cordell

Ruff at home, wussy on the road

Ruff at home, wussy on the road
- corduroy

Like Carter Hart?

Like Carter Hart?
- Crushers68

I believe NJ went with the young UNproven teaching coach in HYNES..THAT DID NOT WORK.....

RUFF US EXPERIENCED AND HAS HAD REALLY GOOD OFFENSIVE TEAMS....

Lets see who hus TEAM is and who runs the D...

Ruff at home, wussy on the road
- corduroy

Apparently, his Buffalo teammates used to say "Ruff at home, Lindy on the road!"

Todd Cordell: On the imminent hiring of Lindy Ruff
- Todd.Cordell

Not sure why they just didn’t stick with nas

I dont know much about this guy so I've been reading reactions from all kinds of people and it seems pretty split. I've also read that he has changed as a coach. From what I've gathered I'm on the fence with him. I want to be optimistic but I should probably be cautious.

heard gallant didn't want it. wanted a win now veteran team and laviolette wanted 5m a year and nj didn't want to pay.

hhhhhhhhhhh

So Aatu Raty, Brandt Clark or Luke Hughes fellas?
- willschulme

Owen Power over all 3, he'll end up being #1

I don't love it, but I don't hate it. We can point to defensive metrics, but how good were those teams before and after he got there? How much talent did he have to work with? Honest questions, but I'm sure it's not all on the coach, especially when talking about a notoriously poorly run organization like Buffalo.

Lots of immediate blame on the NJ owners, but hiring is a two way street and we don't know what the actual climate was. Who's to say any of the big fish were even seriously considering NJ. Established coaches aren't usually too keen on taking on a rebuild unless they have no other choices. So chances are Boudreau, Gallant, etc. are waiting around to see what happens after the playoffs and will jump onto a better, established team.

My theory is that the big names didn't want the job, or at least were going to wait it out. Maybe they also weren't sold on Fitz as a GM, and is part of why they took so long to remove the interim tag. Waiting doesn't work for a NJ team that's about to draft possibly 3 times in the first round. So in came Ruff, and they made a deal.

NJ needed to move in a fresh new thinking direction, the old NHL guard is done. Did NJ really do their homework on this? Was Dallas that happy with him?

When will we see more new blood behind the NHL benches?
- Tee56

I don't know where the myth of new coaches never getting a shot started but lots of new coaches get chances. A lot of them dont work out though. This is just a case of a poopty ownership group getting too involved with the team.

Owen Power over all 3, he'll end up being #1
- vlongo4419

Too early to tell for any of them, but he definitely has the name for it.

Too early to tell for any of them, but he definitely has the name for it.
- willschulme

Ya either way we're going to have a chance to get a stud D prospect, top 10 is loaded with them. I dont have any faith in this team to be picking anywhere but inside the top 5 come next draft