The New Jersey Devils should pursue Bruce Cassidy

A nice mix of old school and new school, Cassidy is one of the league's best coaches.

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There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the New Jersey Devils’ coaching staff right now.

Shortly after the season concluded, the Devils moved on from head assistants Mark Recchi (PP) and Alain Nasreddine (PK) and they’ve yet to be replaced.

Lindy Ruff did not lose his job but GM Tom Fitzgerald was very vague when discussing the matter.

Is Ruff still the head coach? Is he an assistant with a big voice? Is he joining the front office? No firm answers were given.

While I think the Devils would like to keep Ruff around as a coach and give him a shot with, you know, a healthy goaltender or two, running it back with Ruff is becoming harder to justify.

Not just because marquee names like Pete DeBoer, Barry Trotz and, most recently, Bruce Cassidy became free agents; but because of the optics of the situation.

Whether Ruff is to blame or not, he led the Devils to absolutely no success over the last two years. None; no team won fewer games.

Keeping Ruff for a third season while DeBoer (very good coach who has led multiple teams to the Big Dance), Trotz (elite for decades) and Cassidy (never missed the playoffs in Boston) were let go for much, much, less is not a great look.

I honestly don’t know what will happen; maybe Ruff stays behind the bench as a vocal assistant (some of the kids really like him) and aids Fitz in the front office with NHL personnel decisions. Maybe Ruff stays on as head coach. I don’t know.

What I do know is Fitzgerald should be doing his due diligence on the open market; with Cassidy being the primary target.