Ruff hoping to return as Devils coach, continue progress after big season

NEWARK, N.J. -- Lindy Ruff might not know what the future holds for him at the moment, but he certainly can take pride in the fact he was able to lead the New Jersey Devils to the finest regular season in their 41-year history.

Ruff's three-year contract he signed in July 2020 expired after New Jersey lost a best-of-7 series in five games to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Second Round on Thursday.

"(General manager Tom Fitzgerald) and I are still in the process of breaking down the end-of-season meetings with players and we'll sit down at some point," Ruff said during breakup day Saturday.

That point will likely come this week for Ruff, who is a finalist for the Jack Adams Award given annually to the NHL coach of the year.

"I'm going to tell you I had a lot of fun this year ... to see these guys operate and do what they did," Ruff said. "I couldn't have painted a better picture from Day One with some of the goals we set during the regular season. We were an exciting team. We were a fast team that improved in a lot of areas.

"As a coaching staff, we're proud and excited about where we got the team to."

The Devils qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2018 and advanced past the first round for the first time since losing in the 2012 Stanley Cup Final. They established franchise records for wins and points (52-22-8, 112 points) and had an NHL-record 49-point improvement over the previous season (27-46-9, 63 points).

New Jersey's finest moment might have been May 1, when it defeated the rival New York Rangers 4-0 in Game 7 of the first round.

"I've always backed Lindy," center Jack Hughes said. "We had a tremendous year, and Lindy did a great job with us. Everyone should be proud of what we did this year."

Hughes wasn't the only one backing his coach.

"He trusted in me in key situations and that's all you could ask for as a player," forward Erik Haula said.

Fourth-line forward Nathan Bastian said, "I think being a little old school, me and him got along pretty well. Lindy's done so much for so many guys in different ways. He's done a lot for me and even a guy like Jack [Hughes] ... the way his game has grown the last couple of years. I think he got out about as much as he could have gotten out of the group this year."

In addition to Ruff, Fitzgerald has some big decisions to make on several free agents, including impending unrestricted free agent forwards Haula, Tomas Tatar and Miles Wood, defensemen Ryan Graves and Damon Severson, and restricted free agent forwards Bastian, Jesper Boqvist, Jesper Bratt, Michael McLeod, Timo Meier, Yegor Sharangovich and defenseman Kevin Bahl.

"I've been clear since Day One that I think this is a great place to play, a place I call home, and I'm so excited about what this team and franchise did, and it's a ride I want to be a part of," Bratt said.

Haula, acquired in a trade with the Boston Bruins on July 13, 2022, wants to stay put.

"When I got the call that I was traded from Boston to New Jersey, I had mixed emotions, but when I got here, it seemed right," Haula said. "I have a lot of respect for all the guys in this room; some of our best players took such big steps and I want to be part of that."

Hughes (43 goals) was one of two who reached 40 goals (Meier had 40, nine with the Devils, 31 with the San Jose Sharks) and four who scored at least 30 (Hughes, Meier, Bratt, 32; Nico Hischier, 31).

"I'm not like the GM by any means, so it's not up to me, but I know those [free agents] want to come back," Hughes said. "At the same time, you can't just talk about wanting to be in New Jersey. If you want to be in New Jersey, you got to just sign the deal. We'd like to have them back."

Hughes earned respect in the locker room after a 3-2 overtime loss at the Hurricanes in Game 5, when he played through an upper-body injury.

"I didn't think I was going to play, and same with Lindy, but it's different once you get the adrenaline going [in warmups] and you do your things you need to do before the game," Hughes said. "I mean, at the end of the day, you're a competitor. You don't want to be in the press box with the season on the line, so I knew I'd have a pit in my stomach if I was in the press box for that game, so I tied my skates, went out there and tried to do the best I could."