OT: NJ Devils 2023-2024 Thread
- Thread starter Tango Two
- Start date
I'm no Lindy Ruff fan and think it's bad hire for multiple reasons.
But if you look beyond this past year - a year where NJ had a lot of problems beyond coaching and were below 500 after he was fired - he did a good job in his tenure with NJ. He helped Hughes take a major step FWD, gave the team a magical season after years of crap, and raised expectations of the franchise.
Coaches don't often have a long shelf life, and fact is NJ is better now than they were during last coaching search.
Ruff knows offense, and I predicted he would be good for the Devils young offensive players when he was hired. He is horrible at defense, and it is a really bad choice for a team with Power, Dahlin and Byram.
Look at Brady Skjel’s career arc for an example of what Ruff can do to a young defensive player.
2 MCL sprains, an oblique and a shoulder injury. And he still netted 28 goals when unshackled. He'll be a force for NJ next year.
Devils to have less cap space due to overagers and the last season of the 250K penalty for resigning our then player Kovalpuke. Gee I'm sure Bettmann and company are looking at everyway they can penalize Vegas one day for subverting the cap 3 years in a row with the same player Mark Stone.
LOL I'm joking, not all franchises are equal in Gary's Animal Farm. I know if the NJD had owners who wanted to win, and used Hamilton's LTIR money to boost the roster and make the playoffs, the NHL would have closed the loophole immediately!
LOL I'm joking, not all franchises are equal in Gary's Animal Farm. I know if the NJD had owners who wanted to win, and used Hamilton's LTIR money to boost the roster and make the playoffs, the NHL would have closed the loophole immediately!
The problem is that the only people who want to see that LTIR rule fixed is the media and fans.
Teams want to keep it as is in case they ever need to use it, and the players aren’t going to fight against something that has a team spending more on players than they normally would.
True, but it's a ridiculous farce. Looking at what other teams did before and around the time of the Kovy signing, there is not a clearer example of how the league plays favorites. After Tampa and Vegas this travesty is being codified as being how you win a Cup.
