Lindy Ruff is sticking around. The Sabres announced the head coach has signed a two-year contract extension, a fitting reward for breaking the drought and earning a nomination for the Jack Adams Award.
The extension puts to rest any concern the Sabres would be conducting an impromptu coaching search, as it was understood Ruff had signed a two-year deal upon his initial return to the Sabres. Had he opted to retire, or the less likely option of seeking a position elsewhere, the Sabres would have been left scrambling to find his replacement. This stabilizes Buffalo’s bench, providing some runway for a successor to Ruff to be identified while presenting an opportunity for Ruff to build upon the success the team enjoyed this season.
Ruff’s return hasn’t been all positive. The 2024-25 season was nothing short of a nightmare. Most of it was the doing of Kevyn Adams, but Ruff’s hiring, at the time, felt more like a desperate play for some positivity within the fanbase than a well-executed coaching search. This year’s turnaround was nothing short of spectacular and it’s the sort of run that brings home hardware. The in-season turnaround, ending the playoff drought and winning the division ought to overcome the resumes of John Cooper and Dan Muse. Although, there was a fairly heavy push for Cooper to finally win the Adams as a quasi it’s his turn, lifetime achievement manner.
Buffalo’s surge in 2025-26 came on the back of a dynamic, attacking system that relied on Buffalo’s skilled forward group and their dynamic set of top-four defensemen. The Sabres active blueline created headaches for opponents on zone exits and in transition and fed Buffalo’s offense as they blazed into playoff contention from the Eastern Conference basement.
It certainly helps that Ruff got above average goaltending from his trio of netminders. Ukko Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon were among the league leaders in save percentage at year end, with Lyon suffering an unfortunate slide over his final few starts that pulled him from near the top of the league’s ranks to 14th according to NHL.com’s threshold of 25 games play. Still, Buffalo’s goaltenders combined to post a collective save percentage well above league average, with Luukkonen ending in the top 10 according to the league website. The Jack Adams is a goaltending award, after all.
The Ruff extension is probably the easiest business Jarmo Kekäläinen will conduct this offseason. Even though he wasn’t Kekäläinen’s hire, it would have been awfully hard to justify not retaining the Jack Adams finalist who broke the team’s 15-year playoff drought.
There is another PR angle to this as well. Ruff will reach 2,000 NHL games coached next season and he will have an outside chance at hitting the 1,000 win mark. Barring an illness or other unexpected absence, game 62 of the 2026-27 season will be Ruff’s 2,000th behind an NHL bench. The wins mark is harder to pin down as he is sitting at 950 entering next season, meaning he wouldn’t reach 1,000 wins until later in the year and only if the Sabres enjoy another exceptional regular season (Buffalo’s 50th win of this campaign came on April 13). Even if the Sabres fall a few wins short of 50 next year, Ruff will be on track to hit the mark early in the 2027-28 season. That means two, belt-high meatballs the Sabres can hammer out of the park in celebration of the coach.
It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the Sabres and the NHL arrange for the 62nd game of Buffalo’s season to be a home date, allowing for the necessary pomp and circumstance of a pregame ceremony, replete with a packed arena and fan giveaway. That’s a lock. So, if you’re a Ruff fan, mark your calendar for game 62 next year, or the first home game to follow it. The 1,000th win will be a moving target, but you can expect a similar level of celebration for that feat once it’s achieved. One question: Does the team induct Ruff into the Sabres Hall of Fame on the night they honor him for either of the achievements? Or do they wait until he officially retires for that celebration?
It’s only fitting that Ruff will have the chance to reach both milestones behind the Buffalo bench and this extension affords him that opportunity. There are things to clean up for Ruff and the Sabres, special team efficiency being chief among them, but the team, the coach and the fans can enjoy this extension after a season that far exceeded everyone’s expectations.
Two in the Box 