Help wanted? The Rangers might need a new assistant coach

Looks like the New York Rangers will need a new assistant coach

According to NHL Network’s Kevin Weekes, the New Jersey Devils will name Lindy Ruff head coach. Ruff will replace interim bench boss Alain Nasreddine and leave the New York Rangers with a vacancy behind their bench — not that many Blueshirts’ fans will be shedding tears or worrying about the doors to Madison Square Garden hitting Ruff’s backside on his way out.

That Ruff was even considered for the Devils’ job surprised some in the hockey world, especially since Peter Laviolette is available.

Anyway, that’s New Jersey’s problem.As for whom replaces Ruff should he indeed leave Broadway, there are several intriguing possibilities. Here’s a look at a few with the caveat that I haven’t spoken to any candidates or team officials. We can start with Laviolette.

As recently as late June, some hockey pundits seemed confident he’d get the Devils’ job. If Weekes’ report is accurate, Laviolette could stick it to New Jersey by joining their archrivals from Manhattan.

Dan Girardi

As you know, the undrafted kid from Welland, Ontario, logged 11 of his 13 NHL seasons with the Rangers before being released in June 2017 and signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning the following month.

Girardi played a full 82-game schedule for the Blueshirts five times, which is quite remarkable considering he ranks second in career blocked shots (1,954) and seventh among defensemen in career hits (2,082) since the NHL started tracking Real Time stats in 2005-06.

He retired in September 2019 and has reportedly spent his retirement fishing, doing podcasts, and doting on his family. In a January 2020 article in Tampa Bay Parenting, Girardi sounded quite satisfied with life outside the hockey arena.

“Retirement has been amazing,” Girardi told TBP. “You don’t realize how much stuff you miss out on when you play. I have been able to go to all my kids’ events and performances at school. I am also a full-time assistant coach with my son’s team. It is amazing to be out on the ice with him and his teammates. I love teaching the kids and helping them become good players and great teammates.”

Could he be enticed to return to the NHL? If so, the Rangers have everything to gain by bringing him back.

Sergei Zubov

So if not Girardi, then why not a Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman who once skated for the Rangers?

Granted, Zubov played just three seasons for the Rangers (out of a total of 16), but he was one of the best players on the 1993-94 championship team. He led the Blueshirts during the regular season in points (89) and assists (77) and posted 19 points in 22 playoff games, fueled by 14 helpers, including his heady, crisp feed to set up Brian Leetch‘s goal that opened the scoring in Game Seven of the Finals.

Zubov is a Senior Consultant to Hockey Operations for the Dallas Stars, for who he played 12 seasons and won a Cup (1999). He also has coaching experience. He served as a defensive coach for the Russian national team in 2015 and was head coach of HC Sochi of the Kontinental Hockey League from 2017-18 through sixteen games last season after which he was dismissed despite an 11-5 record.

Gord Murphy

Murphy, an assistant coach for the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, had a steady career patrolling blue lines in the NHL for 14 years.

He had 323 points and 668 penalty minutes in 862 career matches. His career minus-83 is deceiving. Four of his six seasons with the Florida Panthers were losing campaigns, and he also played for some lousy Flyers’ and Atlanta Thrashers’ teams. A more telling stat is his Defensive Point Shares rating, which is an estimate of the number of points contributed by a player due to his defense. Murphy’s was 39.1.

Murphy has NHL coaching experience, as well, serving as an assistant for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Panthers and Flyers.

Scott Stevens

Rangers fans may dry-heave at the thought of Stevens behind New York’s bench, but there is precedent for a former blood rival joining the Blueshirts’ coaching staff.

Remember Brian Trottier?

Sorry to drudge up his name and the awful memories he created for the Rangers both as their head coach and a prolific scorer for the Islanders before that. If Trottier can be bench boss on Broadway, why can’t Stevens join David Quinn, Greg Brown, and David Oliver?

It is a longshot. The Devils obviously had an opening, and Stevens has NHL coaching experience having served as interim New Jersey head coach, as well as an assistant coach for the Devils and the Minnesota Wild.

“I guess I’ve never closed the door and you never know if the right situation were to come up, I may listen,” Stevens told NorthJersey.com. “But I’m pretty content doing what I’m doing right now.”

Others

I thought about Alain Nasreddine should Ruff be hired and allowed to bring in his own guys. Or does he keep Nasreddine so long as he agrees to an assistant’s role?

As you know, Nasreddine replaced John Hynes who was fired last season after the Devils went 9-13-4 in their first 26 games (.423 points percentage). Nasreddine guided New Jersey to a 19-16-8 mark in 43 contests before play was paused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s also played 74 NHL matches on the blue line, including three with the Islanders, one of his four teams.

HHOF defenseman Phil Housley was another name who came to mind. He has NHL head coaching experience, compiling a 58-84-22 mark in two seasons at the helm in Buffalo which was not a reflection of his coaching but an indictment of the horrendous decisions by Sabres’ owners, Kim and Terry Pegula.

Housley’s name quickly vacated my mind, however, when I realized he’s an assistant in Arizona with the Coyotes. I highly doubt he’d relocate his family (again) to take the same position some 2,400 miles away.

What do you think?

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