Lindy Ruff Fired as Devils HC After 3-Plus Seasons; Travis Green Named Interim HC

The New Jersey Devils announced Monday that head coach Lindy Ruff has been fired and replaced on an interim basis by associate coach Travis Green.

"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," team president and general manager Tom Fitzgerald said in the statement. "Unfortunately, we are not currently at that level, and I needed to make this decision."

The Devils sit on 64 points, putting them seven points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for the final bid out of the Metropolitan Division and eight points behind the Tampa Bay Lighting for the final wild-card berth.

"I take full responsibility; you want to win," Ruff told reporters on Feb. 26 following a 4-1 loss to the Lightning. "We've dealt with a lot. Players want to win. I'm responsible for the wins and losses, who gets on the ice and who doesn't get on the ice."

In total, the 64-year-old Ruff went 128-125-28 in parts of four seasons with the Devils, leading them to the Stanley Cup playoffs and a first-round victory over the New York Rangers last season before being eliminated by the Carolina Panthers. The team did not reach the postseason in either of his first two seasons on the job.

"This was an extremely difficult conversation to have with Lindy based on the relationship that he and I have," Fitzgerald noted Monday. "He was the right coach to develop our young players on the ice, and above all else, he is a tremendous person."

Green, 53, went 133-147-34 as the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks between the 2017-18 and 2021-22 seasons. He then was brought aboard Ruff's staff in New Jersey. Other coaching stops included gigs in the AHL and WHL.

"Travis has key experience running benches at the junior, AHL and NHL levels and knows that there are no shortcuts to success," Fitzgerald said. "He is a high-demanding individual who is familiar with the group and excited about working to get us back on track."

The hope will be that a coaching change can inject some life into the Devils for a late-season playoff push. They have their work cut out for them in that regard.