Sabres Extend Coach Lindy Ruff Through 2027-28

The Buffalo Sabres have signed head coach Lindy Ruff to a two-year contract extension, ensuring he will remain with the team through the 2027-28 season. The announcement came two days after the team’s elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, a 3-2 loss to Montreal in Game 7 of a second-round series.

Ruff, 66, returned to Buffalo prior to the 2024-25 season, marking his second stint as the team’s coach. He is the franchise’s winningest coach and ranks fourth in career wins across the National Hockey League. This season, Ruff was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year after guiding the Sabres to a 50-win season and 109 points, their best performance since 2006-07. The team ended a league-record 14-season playoff drought, won the Atlantic Division title, and advanced past the first round for the first time since 2007.

The contract extension was expected, with parameters agreed upon in recent weeks, though the announcement was delayed to avoid distracting from the playoff run. Ruff’s first tenure with Buffalo spanned 17 seasons, including a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 1999 and a Coach of the Year award in 2006. He was fired early in the 2013 season and later...