New Jersey Devils fire head coach Lindy Ruff in struggling season

The New Jersey Devils have fired their head coach Lindy Ruff, the team announced on Monday. Associate coach Travis Green will take over until the end of the 2023-24 season.

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

The Devils are currently in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division with a 30-27-4 record after losing three of their past four games. Their chances of making the playoffs look thinner and thinner every day.

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

The 2023-24 campaign was the fourth season since Ruff began to coach the Devils. They appeared in the playoffs once last season but lost to the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 in the Eastern Conference second round.

Green only became Ruff's associate coach in June 2023. He worked as the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks for parts of the five seasons between 2017 and 2022 before coming to New Jersey.

"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."

Green's first game as the Devils' boss will be hosting the Florida Panthers at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Wednesday.