Devils aim to get back to the playoffs
New coach Lindy Ruff will try to end two-year drought
Lindy Ruff is taking on the job of getting the New Jersey Devils back to the playoffs.
It’s no small task. The Devils have missed the postseason the past two seasons and seven of the past eight. Making things tougher in this COVID -19 season, they will be playing in a division where six of the eight teams made the expanded postseason.
The Devils (28-29-12) just missed that group after a 10-5-2 finish under interim coach Alain Nasreddine. They have some talent with goaltenders Mackenzie Blackwood and Corey Crawford, left wing Kyle Palmieri and young centers Nico Hischier and a bigger Jack Hughes. The defense is the concern.
“I want to create hope, and the hope is that we have some unknowns, we have some young players that nobody has seen,” said Ruff, who spent the past three seasons as an assistant with the Rangers. “There’s an opportunity for these young players to step in and be difference-makers. We’ve added a couple of really good defensemen that I think can make our team better. We’ve added another goaltender which has given us two goaltenders. So I’m going to talk about the hope.”
Ruff took over the Dallas Stars in 2013-14 and ended a five-year playoff drought in his first season there. New Jersey last made the postseason in 2016-17 under John Hynes, who was fired in December 2019.
The players will definitely enjoy Ruff ’s uptempo style if they can remember to be responsible on defense.
“I think there’s excitement,” said center Travis Zajac, who is entering his 15th season in New Jersey. “We’re ready to get off to a good start and prove some people wrong, maybe surprise some people. I think when you look at our team, we did get better. We had some pieces. We have some younger guys that have had a year under their belt that they ’re going to improve. So I think we’re a team headed in the right direction.”
The Devils are in a brutal division with the Bruins, Sabres, Islanders, Rangers, Flyers, Penguins and Capitals. The season gets underway with consecutive home games against Boston on Jan. 14 and 16.