The New Jersey Devils opted to fire coach Lindy Ruff on Monday amid the team’s recent rut. With Ruff out of the picture, assistant Travis Green will take over as the franchise’s interim head coach.
The team announced its decision to part ways with Ruff in a statement from general manager Tom Fitzgerald on Monday.
“I hold our entire organization to the highest levels of accountability to focus on being a competitive team that expects to be a perennial playoff contender,” Fitzgerald said. “Unfortunately, we are not currently at that level, and I needed to make this decision.”
The Devils have lost back-to-back games and are losers of five of their last seven. Heading into Monday’s slate of games, New Jersey is entrenched in a wild-card race in a congested Eastern Conference. With 64 points in 61 games, the Devils are eight points back of the final wild-card spot in the East.
The team needed a strong showing in the end of February and into early March, but instead fell flat, winning just two games since Feb. 17 and surrendering four or more goals in each of their five defeats during that span.
“This was an extremely difficult conversation to have with Lindy based on the relationship that he and I have,” said Fitzgerald. “He was the right coach to develop our young players on the ice, and above all else, he is a tremendous person.”
Ruff had been New Jersey’s coach since the onset of the 2020–21 campaign. Last season, he led the Devils to their first playoff appearance since '18, though they were bounced in the first round.
