New York Rangers: What does history say about Lindy Ruff as a coach?

Before Ruff

The 2016-2017 Rangers were a talented but flawed team. With the bones of a team that won the President’s Trophy two years earlier, the window of contention to win the Stanley Cup was closed because the miles caught up with the players. During the regular season under Buekeboom, the Rangers were sixth worst in the entire league in expected goals against with 153.

Couple this with an expected goals for percentage of 52.02 percent and the image of a defensive liability is pretty clear. Meaning that since the Rangers were still positive in terms of expected goals for percentage even though the defense was giving up good scoring chances, the offense was good enough to shoulder the load regardless.

The top six for New York that year in terms of games played was Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Brady Skjei, Nick Holden, Marc Staal and Kevin Klein. This unit was very mediocre at the midway point of the season and compelled Jeff Gorton, the general manager, to trade for Brendan Smith of the Detroit Red Wings at the trade deadline.

The addition of Smith gave the Rangers a bonafide shutdown defenseman that was an elite level shot suppressor.

Yet, even with Smith in the fold and playing well alongside Skjei, the Rangers’ defense struggled in the postseason. The second round exit against the Senators cost Jeff Beuekboom his job as a defensive assistant and spurred a series of changes that offseason.

That same year, the Dallas Stars fired Ruff as head coach for missing the playoffs again and the Rangers brought him in to replace the team legend.