Confirmed with Link: Devils to retain Fitz as GM, hire Ruff as coach

[NJDevs26]

Broken by Weekes first



And Dreger confirms so Confirmed With Link, here we come

Click to read more...

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Laviolette went to 3 Finals and beat us twice in the playoffs. Gallant took an expansion team to the Finals.

Like I said, I'd probably rather either one of them. But the other factor is, they had to want to come here. Maybe they didn't want to coach here.

Regardless, we can be miserable about who we didn't hire, or be happy that, by default, we basically have to be better than we were under Hynes. And no coach is taking this team to the finals. Not even Lemaire. Though that would have been awesome.

 

[AfroThunder396]

My brother is a Sabres fan and felt this way about Ruff 2 weeks ago.

“He was always more of a players coach. They ran a very tight lock in the late 90's with Hasek under him but also were free-wheeling coming out of the lock out and I thought was pretty adaptable as styles changed. Was good with young players but not a disciplinarian.”

This is correct.

It's worth noting that Ruff had the most success with the Sabres in '06 and '07 with a group of small skilled forwards, which is what we've been trying to build.

 

[Bleedred]

Terrible hire. Of course we hire the one veteran coach that didn’t look like he’d ever be a head coach in the NHL again.

I don’t even think Shero would have hired him. Thanks a lot Fitz.

*This is not a BleeDD post. I repeat, this is not a BleeDD post. It’s the real Bleed unfiltered*.

 

[NJDevs26]

Terrible hire. Of course we hire the one veteran coach that didn’t look like he’d ever be a head coach in the NHL again.

I don’t even think Shero would have hired him. Thanks a lot Fitz.

*This is not a BleeDD post. I repeat, this is not a BleeDD post. It’s the real Bleed unfiltered*.

Personally I think Shero would have just hired Dennehy or some other faceless assistant/AHL guy if he didn't extend Nas, that's pretty well been his MO from Bylsma to Hynes to Nas.

 

[Bleedred]

Special f*** you to the Rangers for not scrapping AV mid-season when Ruff was already there and promoting him.

 

[HellOnIce]

Terrible hire. Of course we hire the one veteran coach that didn’t look like he’d ever be a head coach in the NHL again.

I don’t even think Shero would have hired him. Thanks a lot Fitz.

*This is not a BleeDD post. I repeat, this is not a BleeDD post. It’s the real Bleed unfiltered*.

Shero didn't hire him - he hired Hynes...how'd that work out?

If this is a Fitz move, then it's a Fitz move. He's done OK so far, Marty probably signed off on it too - let's see what happens. As I've said before, give me a roster that's good enough for a bad coach to matter and then I'll get upset.

 

[Triumph]

My brother is a Sabres fan and felt this way about Ruff 2 weeks ago.

“He was always more of a players coach. They ran a very tight lock in the late 90's with Hasek under him but also were free-wheeling coming out of the lock out and I thought was pretty adaptable as styles changed. Was good with young players but not a disciplinarian.”

This to me is the most important thing - the Devils do not need a coach who is going to grind every single win out of this roster, benching players for gambling too much, etc. I thought Hynes was pretty good about not sitting on young players; people here who get on him for that don't remember past coaches. Hynes did try to gamble but when he wasn't, the Devils defaulted to a really locked down system.

 

[Bcap88]

Lol joke

 

[Bleedred]

Personally I think Shero would have just hired Dennehy or some other faceless assistant/AHL guy, that's pretty well been his MO from Bylsma to Hynes to Nas.

I always thought Shero was gonna make a big splash hire. I actually figured it would be someone big. I remember saying that before Hynes was even fired, once it became apparent that Hynes was already a lame duck.

But maybe not.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Oh man I forgot about Disco Dan. That would have been worse for sure.

 

[Bleedred]

Shero didn't hire him - he hired Hynes...how'd that work out?

If this is a Fitz move, then it's a Fitz move. He's done OK so far, Marty probably signed off on it too - let's see what happens. As I've said before, give me a roster that's good enough for a bad coach to matter and then I'll get upset.

Shero hired Hynes in year one of the rebuild. I think if he were around still, he’d have hired a vet. We just hired a vet coach, but more than likely not a good one.

Give him a better goalie than either of the two washed up Finns he had in Dallas and maybe we’re alright. Blackwood is better, but the other guy signed for next year is even worse than the pair of finished Finns that Lindy had in Dallas.

 

[Better Call Sal]

This will be interesting if true.

I liked Ruff in the past but of course am a bit wary of whether the game has potentially passed him by.

Glad that Fitz is going to be getting the interim tagged removed as he should.

 

[Satans Hockey]

f*** outta here. Would rather keep shitty Nas. f*** 2020.

 

[Bleedred]

f*** outta here. Would rather keep shitty Nas. f*** 2020.

I don’t think I’d rather have kept Nas, but definitely f*** 2020.

 

[Unknown Caller]

From Fitzgerald's comments, this is just the start of a line of terrible moves. We are absolutely taking Sanderson at 7 and they're going to go after overpriced defensive defenseman and physical forwards in free agency. Fitzgerald thinks we're too soft and they're going to try to play Lou Lamoriello style hockey again. Really unfortunate because Shero was on the right track and the team just wasn't ready to blossom yet. First time in a long time that I don't like the direction of the organization.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

From Fitzgerald's comments, this is just the start of a line of terrible moves. We are absolutely taking Sanderson at 7 and they're going to go after overpriced defensive defenseman and physical forwards in free agency. Fitzgerald thinks we're too soft and they're going to try to play Lou Lamoriello style hockey again. Really unfortunate because Shero was on the right track and the team just wasn't ready to blossom yet. First time in a long time that I don't like the direction of the organization.

Can we, like, give it a couple games before we declare the next several years an unmitigated disaster?

 

[Buggsy]

From Fitzgerald's comments, this is just the start of a line of terrible moves. We are absolutely taking Sanderson at 7 and they're going to go after overpriced defensive defenseman and physical forwards in free agency. Fitzgerald thinks we're too soft and they're going to try to play Lou Lamoriello style hockey again. Really unfortunate because Shero was on the right track and the team just wasn't ready to blossom yet. First time in a long time that I don't like the direction of the organization.

But the team is definitely too soft? They need some sort of physical presence. In the year we made the playoffs, the f***ing tampa bay lightning looked like the legion of doom against us.

Devils desperately need a combination of size and skill in their top 6 and anywhere on their d.

 

[Bcap88]

Might as well confirm it

 

[ScottyK]

From Fitzgerald's comments, this is just the start of a line of terrible moves. We are absolutely taking Sanderson at 7 and they're going to go after overpriced defensive defenseman and physical forwards in free agency. Fitzgerald thinks we're too soft and they're going to try to play Lou Lamoriello style hockey again. Really unfortunate because Shero was on the right track and the team just wasn't ready to blossom yet. First time in a long time that I don't like the direction of the organization.

I mean thats the opposite of how Ruff likes to play so

 

[ScottyK]

Wonder if Ruff stays with the Rangers for the playoffs ?

 

[AfroThunder396]

This to me is the most important thing - the Devils do not need a coach who is going to grind every single win out of this roster, benching players for gambling too much, etc. I thought Hynes was pretty good about not sitting on young players; people here who get on him for that don't remember past coaches. Hynes did try to gamble but when he wasn't, the Devils defaulted to a really locked down system.

Ruff is a lot like DeBoer in terms of temperament and his relationship with players, good at getting the most out of his players. Although DeBoer is obviously much better with systems.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Oof

But it’s basically his last chance to make an impact as a head coach. Let’s see...

 

[bobilly45]

I'm ok with keeping fitz, he doesn't seem bad.