Take a look around the National Hockey League coaching ranks. Tell me what you see. I’ll tell what I see. The coaches, like the players are getting younger. With the exception of the returning Joel Quenneville (born in 1958), Buffalo Sabres bench boss Lindy Ruff (born Feb. 17, 1960) is the oldest remaining active head coach in the NHL. Philadelphia fired John Tortorella (1958 ) late last season, temporarily making Ruff the senior NHL head coach until Anaheim brought Quenneville back from his NHL exile.
Make no mistake. The upcoming 2025-2026 National Hockey League season will be a crucial one for the Buffalo Sabres. For Ruff, this campaign brings the biggest — and perhaps the final — challenge of his coaching career. His team desperately needs to start climbing back toward the Stanley Cup playoffs. Meanwhile, the club has a slew of question marks.
Ruff led Sabres to success in a different era
In his first stint as bench boss for Buffalo from 1997-2013, Ruff became the winningest coach in team history. He guided the club to Conference Final appearances in 1998, 2006 and 2007 and a berth in the Stanley Cup Final in 1999.
Ruff returned to the Sabres as head coach prior to the 2024-25 season. The team, looking to right the ship after a historic 13-year playoff absence, turned to the veteran coach to steer the team toward a return to relevance.
Buffalo held a playoff position into late November, but a 13-game winless skid derailed the club. It took time for players to buy into Ruff’s defensively responsible system. The Sabres performed well during the 20 twenty games of last season, but by that time it was too late to save the season.
Sabres must progress in 2025-25
Looking ahead to this fall, the team and its leadership are at a critical crossroads. Both Ruff and general manager Kevyn are on expiring contracts. The Sabres simply must stop the playoff drought from reaching a fourteenth consecutive season.
Ruff, having had time to fully evaluate the roster, will continue to put his stamp on the group. His shift of top scorer Tage Thompson from center to wing paid dividends last season.
Goaltending help from free agent Alex Lyon and the addition of defensemen Michael Kesselring should help keep fewer pucks from entering the Buffalo net. The Sabres figure to have goal scoring issues, however. The loss of winger JJ Peterka hurt.
Meanwhile, in all likelihood, the Sabres won’t add a top-six caliber forward before the season. Consequently, Ruff will need to get greater contributions from the likes of Zach Benson and Jack Quinn.
The Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference competition gets stronger with each passing season.
Ruff has to engineer a phenomenal coachig season. To reach the playoffs, the Sabres must overachieve significantly. Failure to reach the postseason yet again will bring with it another round of significant changes to Buffalo. For Lindy Ruff, who will turn 66 during the Olympic break, the 2025-26 campaign could be his last hurrah as an NHL head coach.
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