Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - offseason edition

[Eggtimer]

The team / Fitz will say they are still analyzing the coaching situation and will make a decision at the proper time.
They will keep the door open and see who is all available and who is all interested in the job and go from there.

They are probably “ok“ with Ruff as the coach but if something better pops up , then they move on from Ruff. If no one better is available , then they bring him back.

 

[McDuffz88]

I really hope Ruff is next. It would be pointless to fire the assistants but keep Ruff. Just clean house

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

PK for King Clancy.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Part of me wonders what kind of an assistant is going to sign up to come here when Ruff is possibly on the hot seat himself going into next year. Hopefully our personnel can entice someone good for the powerplay. Also I know Nas was an enigma but his PK's were always decent, it's just the 5v5 defense and his pairings that were hair pulling worthy. He'll end up somewhere in the league quickly imo.

 

[Nubmer6]

Part of me wonders what kind of an assistant is going to sign up to come here when Ruff is possibly on the hot seat himself going into next year.

Perhaps someone who has eyes on being something more than just an assistant coach.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Perhaps someone who has eyes on being something more than just an assistant coach.

That's true but sometimes these high profile assistants do want come onto a staff that has stability. Could also work the opposite way where a lame duck HC could pave the way to an easy HC job as an assistant. I'm just thinking aloud with the possibilities, lol.

 

[JrFischer54]

Word is that Laviolette walked because of lack of pay. I'm not sure why Gallant wanted to go away while Gronborg left his interview on good terms.

That’s the Same as saying it’s not you it’s me. This isn’t really a job that a lot of experienced guys are beating down the door to get. These kids are coach killers lol

 

[JrFischer54]

People wanting ruff gone yet under him a lot of guys scored a ton of points and were “producing” people already know where I stand with that but it’s interesting to see so many want him gone

 

[McDuffz88]

People wanting ruff gone yet under him a lot of guys scored a ton of points and were “producing” people already know where I stand with that but it’s interesting to see so many want him gone

Players are scoring points at the sacrifice of 0 structure and 0 defensive game. Put in a coach who implements a team structure and don't be shocked if points come down. Its not about individual points its about wins.

 

[MadDevil]

I doubt Ruff gets fired if they just announced the assistants are gone.

 

[RangerDoggo]

I doubt Ruff gets fired if they just announced the assistants are gone.

It's less likely but still pretty possible. There are still plenty of coaches that aren't available yet.

 

[Unknown Caller]

It's less likely but still pretty possible. There are still plenty of coaches that aren't available yet.

They could be waiting to see what happens with guys in uncertain situations like Boudreau and Gronborg. And in all likelihood they would put out feelers in advance through agents to make sure they could get their pick without letting Ruff go.

But I think the delay is likely that Ruff is back unless they know with certainty that they can get the top guy on their list.

 

[NJDevs26]

 

[RangerDoggo]

Hmmm. Hmmery

 

[My3Sons]

So, Recchi and Nas will obviously be starring in the Lighthouse Part 2 with how they coached this season. The story will center around Nas slowly falling into insanity while Recchi makes them both drink kerosene even though anyone with a brain knows that kerosene is actually poisonous and not alchohol. While they are slowly going insane (even though they should be dead by the end of the first act) Nas will see illusions that portray Recchi as an actual fat penguin and Ben Lovejoy will wash up on shore where Nas will try to get him to man the penalty kill but of course Lovejoy isn't actually there. There will be allusions to the myth of sisyphus before Nas ends up staring into his own reflection in a pond like Narcissus because I don't know my Greek myths. It will be shot in sepia tones and the critics will rave. I'll accept my Oscar now @njdevils1982 and @NjDevsRR . Thanks for being part of this rewarding and brilliant motion picture.

 

[RangerDoggo]

So, Recchi and Nas will obviously be starring in the Lighthouse Part 2 with how they coached this season. The story will center around Nas slowly falling into insanity while Recchi makes them both drink kerosene even though anyone with a brain knows that kerosene is actually poisonous and not alchohol. While they are slowly going insane (even though they should be dead by the end of the first act) Nas will see illusions that portray Recchi as an actual fat penguin and Ben Lovejoy will wash up on shore where Nas will try to get him to man the penalty kill but of course Lovejoy isn't actually there. There will be allusions to the myth of sisyphus before Nas ends up staring into his own reflection in a pond like Narcissus because I don't know my Greek myths. It will be shot in sepia tones and the critics will rave. I'll accept my Oscar now @njdevils1982 and @NjDevsRR . Thanks for being part of this rewarding and brilliant motion picture.

Who gets to be played by Willem Dafoe?

 

[Bleedred]

Who gets to be played by Willem Dafoe?

Dafoe is too skinny to be Recchi and Nas is way too young and too good looking to be played by Dafoe.

I could see Willem Dafoe pulling off a Lindy Ruff if they gave him a bald cap and some horse hair for Ruff's 10 pieces of hair combover. Kind of like how they did DeNiro's mohawk in Taxi Driver.

 

[My3Sons]

Dafoe is too skinny to be Recchi and Nas is way too young and too good looking to be played by Dafoe.

I could see Willem Dafoe pulling off a Lindy Ruff if they gave him a bald cap and some horse hair for Ruff's 10 pieces of hair combover. Kind of like how they did DeNiro's mohawk in Taxi Driver.

I’m not sure if Ruff appears in my shooting script. I’d probably have Dafoe play Lovejoy.

 

[RSeen]

on the rush. but once we missed a chance on the rush he can help to keep the puck in the offensive zone and create a second wave of offense. like a trailor in basketball.

and he scored 3 goals in 7 games (tiny sample size i know).

I understand he could potentially be good along the boards but his speed is still a major concern for me. The 3 goals doesn't mean much, what's more relevant is his year over year performance in the minors. He didn't produce more so its hard to say how much progress he has made.

 

[Guttersniped]

That was 30 years ago. Guttersniped did a great breakdown of where assistants came from in our division. Bottom line is that nobody picks their own assistants anymore, and I'm skeptical they ever did.

I gave examples of coaches bringing on their long term assistants with them, but it’s usually just one guy. And they do want those guys to get HC jobs.

Trotz has said publicly that he thinks Lane Lambert should get a shot at a HC job. Lambert is 57 so if he doesn’t get one soon he might never get one, outside of interim one, so that’s why Trotz has been pitching him.

Teams do keep certain Assistants around like Nass, ACs who have not only survived HC changes but also GM changes. And other AC are obvious GM hires in the sense that they had worked for the GM before and not with the HC.

Ruff might have been interested in hiring Chris Taylor because he was rather abruptly unemployed and they’re were likely fewer teams hiring at the time. The excuse the Pegulas used was that they wanted the AHL team to focus more on developing and less on winning (since they had done very well under Taylor).

It was seen as a bit shocking and unfair as the Pegulas fired a ton of people when COVID started and it seemed like they were combining saving money through mass firing while claiming to “clean house”.

And giving unemployed guys you know jobs is part of this. Recchi was let go by the Penguins with all their ACs, so he was available for us to scoop up, it was kismet *sob vomit*. Unless you poach a guy by offering him a bigger Associate Coach position, they can’t be on another NHL staff.

The only long term assistant that seemed like a candidate to “follow” Ruff to NJ was James Patrick but they hadn’t coached together since 2016-17, he was defensive coach and Fitz decided to keep Nass. Patrick is a HC in the WHL, so he had a job. Who knows if he was even a candidate. Our PK was one of the better things about the team this year, I don’t think we missed out if this dude was a in the running for a AC spot.

Teams fire the Assistants without firing the HC though, we do have to prepare for that. If that’s the play then the ACs better be pretty f***ing exciting, maybe a bigger name as an Associate Coach.

I’m not going to try to predict what’s happening though, and (over)react to my guess. I’m going to see how it plays out first.

Ruff is still being evaluated I suppose.

 

[Devs3cups]

I gave examples of coaches bringing on their long term assistants with them, but it’s usually just one guy. And they do want those guys to get HC jobs.

Trotz has said publicly that he thinks Lane Lambert should get a shot at a HC job. Lambert is 57 so if he doesn’t get one soon he might never get one, outside of interim one, so that’s why Trotz has been pitching him.

Teams do keep certain Assistants around like Nass, ACs who have not only survived HC changes but also GM changes. And other AC are obvious GM hires in the sense that they had worked for the GM before and not with the HC.

Ruff might have been interested in hiring Chris Taylor because he was rather abruptly unemployed and they’re were likely fewer teams hiring at the time. The excuse the Pegulas used was that they wanted the AHL team to focus more on developing and less on winning (since they had done very well under Taylor).

It was seen as a bit shocking and unfair as the Pegulas fired a ton of people when COVID started and it seemed like they were combining saving money through mass firing while claiming to “clean house”.

And giving unemployed guys you know jobs is part of this. Recchi was let go by the Penguins with all their ACs, so he was available for us to scoop up, it was kismet *sob vomit*. Unless you poach a guy by offering him a bigger Associate Coach position, they can’t be on another NHL staff.

The only long term assistant that seemed like a candidate to “follow” Ruff to NJ was James Patrick but they hadn’t coached together since 2016-17, he was defensive coach and Fitz decided to keep Nass. Patrick is a HC in the WHL, so he had a job. Who knows if he was even a candidate. Our PK was one of the better things about the team this year, I don’t think we missed out if this dude was a in the running for a AC spot.

Teams fire the Assistants without firing the HC though, we do have to prepare for that. If that’s the play then the ACs better be pretty f***ing exciting, maybe a bigger name as an Associate Coach.

I’m not going to try to predict what’s happening though, and (over)react to my guess. I’m going to see how it plays out first.

Classic movie haha!

 

[RSeen]

People wanting ruff gone yet under him a lot of guys scored a ton of points and were “producing” people already know where I stand with that but it’s interesting to see so many want him gone

This always happens...Deboer, Hynes and now Ruff. People have a difficult time contextualizing performance. We were a strong enough team at 5 on 5 that I'd be fine with Ruff being back. Getting rid of Recchi was necessary tho, the PP was terrible.

 

[Guttersniped]

Well Husso mania should start sweeping this board soon.

Or not.

 

[Guttersniped]

My list is:

Claude Julien
Paul Maurice
Dineen
Jim Montgomery

I know Bleed is going to talk about Julien-ball and we'll get the stories of someone shooting a puck at him.

Still, I think Julien's experience with the Bruins could make him a really good fit. He's been successful coaching young talent, and helped the Bruins to one cup win and a cup finals appearance.

He coached Bergeron was 22, Krejci was 21, Kessel was 20, and Lucic was 19. He had a 30 year old Chara who was good, but hadn't yet gone supernova. He also helped Marchand and Pasta break in. Marchand credits Julien with helping him improve:

Brad Marchand credits ex-coach Claude Julien for making him a better player

MONTREAL — On the eve of the Bruins’ first game against ex-coach Claude Julien’s Canadiens, there were the fondest of memories all across the visiting team room yesterday at Bell …

www.bostonherald.com

Bergeron, Krejci and Rask have also said similarly good things.

Paul Maurice is very Ruff-like, he has an aggressive possession system that makes his forwards look great when they’re rolling but was defensively suspect, particularly after they lost key defensemen like Buff, Trouba, Chiarot (to put it lightly). Hellebuyck has seen a lot of rubber, he routinely gets hung out to dry.

 

[Guttersniped]

Ahem.