3 Best Coaching Hires This Offseason

There’s been a lot of turnover behind the bench in recent seasons. How much turnover? The longest-tenured head coach in the Pacific Division is Bruce Cassidy, he was hired in the 2022 offseason. 

This offseason, there were eight new head coaching hires. There are a few who are taking over rebuilding teams and it will take time until their success is noticeable. Then there are others who can lead their teams to great things this season and in the long run.

3. Lindy Ruff

Welcome back to Buffalo Lindy Ruff!! The Buffalo Sabres are bringing back arguably their most successful head coach in franchise history, someone who coached the team for 15 seasons.  

The big plus is that Ruff knows the city and the fanbase better than any other hire would. He’s also going to run his system and bring back both discipline and accountability to the Sabres. While he’s struggled at other stops, the Sabres seem like a perfect fit. 

Ruff can take a roster that has the talent to compete to the next level. This would mean he helps the Sabres snap the longest playoff drought in league history and become a contender in the Eastern Conference. With Ruff, they can do that.

2. Craig Berube

The Craig Berube hire should be the best one of the summer. The Toronto Maple Leafs hired a playoff-prove coach who can get them over the hump. Berube won the Cup in 2019 with the St. Louis Blues, a franchise that never won it before or since, and now he looks to help the Maple Leafs win their first title since 1967. 

The problem is that he doesn’t have much of an on-ice impact. Berube isn’t going to have this team looking great on the offensive or defensive end of the ice and ultimately, his undoing in St. Louis was in part because things got stale there. 

It’s also going to be interesting to see how he meshes with the veterans on the roster who have a lot of say in how things are run. Sure, he can bring in his own guys but if he can’t get the buy-in from Auston Matthews or William Nylander, this team is in trouble.

1. Sheldon Keefe

There are a lot of reasons to like this hire for the New Jersey Devils. Sheldon Keefe is a balanced coach who is coming in to fix the defense but also allow the offense to continue playing at a high level. 

The Devils have a great roster. Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt lead a great forward unit while Dougie Hamilton anchors a defense that will only get better with the development of Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec.

All they needed was stability behind the bench. Keefe provides them with that. The Devils missed the playoffs last season but don’t expect the same out of them this time around. They might be the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.