Head coach Lindy Ruff of the Buffalo Sabres is the favorite to win his second career Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s best coach.
The NHL announced the three finalists for the annual Jack Adams Award on Friday, which is given to the coach who is “adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.” This year, the three finalists are Ruff, Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Dan Muse of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Lindy Ruff is the Favorite to Win the Jack Adams Award
According to Kalshi, Ruff has an 89% chance of capturing his second Jack Adams Award, after first winning back in 2006 when he was with the Sabres during his first stint with the organization. 20 years later, and Ruff has an excellent shot of capturing the award yet again.
Ruff helped guide the Sabres back to respectability this season. After the team missed the playoffs for 14 straight seasons, the team took a massive step forward this year as they won the Atlantic Division and snapped their playoff drought in the process. It was a truly incredible season for the Sabres, and much of the credit has to be given to Ruff, a hockey lifer who has always been highly respected among players, peers, and the fans.
The Sabres improved from 79 points last year to 109 points this year. That 30-point improvement should be enough to earn Ruff this trophy, which is as much of a coaching award as it is an award for the league’s most-improved team.
This is Ruff’s fifth time being a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, tying John Tortorella, Scotty Bowman, and Alain Vigneault for the most nominations in NHL history.
Jon Cooper and Dan Muse Would be 1st-Time Jack Adams Award Winners
It’s hard to believe, but Cooper has never won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach. If you polled 100 hockey fans, at least half, if not two-thirds or more, would say that he’s the NHL’s premier coach. After all, he’s guided the Lightning to two Stanley Cup championships, and he’s also been the head coach of Team Canada internationally in the Olympics and during the 4 Nations Face-Off.
But for whatever reason, Cooper has never taken home the honor. He has been a finalist two other times, and while he is well deserving of the honor after leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to 106 points, it feels unlikely he will be the winner when Ruff is the clear favorite. According to Kalshi, he has just a 7% chance of winning the Jack Adams Award.
Finally, we have Muse, a rookie coach who helped the Penguins get back into the playoffs after taking 98 points during the regular season. It was a phenomenal year for Muse and the Penguins, as the team wasn’t projected to be in the postseason before the year began. But he did a great job with the team and helped coach them back into the playoffs in his first season in the NHL. That being said, Muse is a long shot to win the Jack Adams Award, with just a 2% chance of winning at Kalshi.
Lindy Ruff Favored to Win 2nd Jack Adams Award