- Ruff signed a two-year extension through 2027-28 on Wednesday
- He’s a Jack Adams finalist after ending the longest playoff drought in NHL history
- Read below for what kept Buffalo’s coaching job off the open market
Lindy Ruff isn’t going anywhere.
Buffalo signed its 66-year-old head coach to a two-year extension on Wednesday, keeping him behind the bench through the 2027-28 season after one of the wildest turnarounds in recent league memory.
The Sabres were 11-13-4 and dead last in the Eastern Conference on December 5. From there, they went 39-10-5 the rest of the way, the best mark in the NHL, and ran away with the Atlantic at 50-23-9. It was Buffalo’s first division title since 2009-10 and the end of a 14-year playoff drought, the longest in league history.
Ruff is one of three finalists for this year’s Jack Adams Award, alongside Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper and Pittsburgh’s Dan Muse. He’s won it before, back in 2006, also with the Sabres.
Asked what the year meant to him after Monday’s Game 7 overtime loss to Montreal, Ruff put the credit on the players:
“When I took the job, I thought, number one, I wanted these guys to like being a Buffalo Sabre. I think they like being a Sabre and I think they made our city proud. It wasn’t the result we wanted and to a man, they’re all disappointed. But they gave them everything they had in the can.”
Catch the full presser:
His Buffalo numbers are unmatched. Ruff is the winningest coach in franchise history at 657-494-100 with 78 ties from his first stint between 1997 and 2013. League-wide, he sits fourth all-time with 950 career wins.
On the ice, the Sabres jumped to fifth in goals per game at 3.45 and trimmed their goals against from 3.50 last year (20th) down to 2.93 (tied 10th). That kind of two-way leap in one offseason almost never happens.
Heading into Wednesday, Ruff was the only NHL head coach without a deal for next season. Not anymore.
