Was Lindy Ruff the main problem at the New Jersey Devils? What does the road ahead look like for Jack Hughes & company

Modified Mar 06, 2024 01:13 GMT

On Monday, the New Jersey Devils fired their head coach Lindy Ruff after a 30-27-4 record through 61 games in the season.

Although the move could be considered too little, too late, someone had to pay for their poor performance in a year when the team was projected to be a Stanley Cup contender.

However, the NHL is a business, and teams can not fire the players, so the usual axe falls on the head coach, who can't score goals or make saves.

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Unfortunately, Ruff, who had just led New Jersey to their first playoff win since 2012, was let go because general manager Tom Fitzgerald did nothing to help the team succeed once the injuries mounted and the goalies stopped making saves.

The Devils began the season with a 5-2-1 record, but superstar Jack Hughes missed five games, which resulted in a 2-3-0 stretch in early November.

The losing didn't stop when he returned, with the team sporting a 9-9-1 record heading into a game on Nov. 28 when Dougie Hamilton went down for the season with a torn pectoral muscle.

Although it seemed the team rallied together without their top defenseman, earning an 11-5-1 record through Jan. 5, the implosion went into high gear when Hughes went down for a second time.

After suffering an upper-body against the Chicago Blackhawks, they went 4-6-1, getting outscored 41-35. When Hughes returned after a month of missing the All-Star Game, New Jersey didn't get any better, with a 5-7-1 stretch, continuing to get outscored, 43-36, leading up to Ruff's dismissal.

Without Hamilton in the lineup, the Devils have plummeted to the bottom of the league regarding goals against, ranking 26th overall at 214 and 22nd in goal differential at minus-14.

However, New Jersey's most significant flaw this season is their save percentage, which ranks 31st in the league at .891%, slightly better than the Ottawa Senators, who rank last at .885%.

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Of the three goalies to play this season, only Vitek Vaněček (17-9-3) has a winning record. Meanwhile, young and inexperienced Nico Daws and Akira Schmid are under enormous pressure to keep the Devils in games but never make the game-saving save necessary to win.

Since the defense couldn't survive Hamilton's loss, the offense didn't respond without Hughes carrying the play, and the goalies didn't stop the puck; Ruff had to go.

What's next for the New Jersey Devils?

For months, New Jersey has been linked to every goalie who may be available at the NHL trade deadline, whether Jacob Markstrom or Juuse Saros. Unfortunately, Fitzgerald has yet to make a move for an elite starter, so they have an interim head coach who is eight points out of the playoffs.

Instead of contending for the Stanley Cup, the Devils could become sellers in the next few days, potentially trading away 20-goal scorer Tyler Toffoli to bring in reinforcements to begin 2024-25 on a better note.

Hamilton should be fully healthy to start next season's campaign and will be a significant addition without a transaction. However, to save his job in New Jersey, Fitzgerald must acquire an elite goalie to help get the Devils through Hughes' prime years.

According to CapFriendly.com, there will be 76 free-agent goalies this summer, but none are elite with extensive playoff experience.

The Boston Bruins will not let Jeremy Swayman go, and the Toronto Maple Leafs will likely re-sign Ilya Samsonov. Yes, some skaters in the group are reliable backups, like Scott Wedgewood (Dallas) and Casey DeSmith (Vancouver), but these guys are not at the level of the elite that New Jersey has to contend with.

Heading into 2024-25, the Devils have one of the league's best cores, with Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and Timo Meier. Once Hamilton returns, he can help Luke Hughes become a star defenseman.

New Jersey's problems were not their head coach but their roster construction and the general manager's inability to retool on the fly. Every year, their divisional rivals, the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes, continue to be top teams, while the Philadelphia Flyers are finally becoming contenders.

Thankfully, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals will embark on a rebuild soon, giving the Devils a chance to stay a top-four team in the Metropolitan Division. However, that can't happen until they land a goalie and handle the adversity that comes with injuries.