On Monday, the Buffalo Sabres announced Lindy Ruff as their new head coach. He replaces Don Granato, who was let go last week after three and a half seasons behind Buffalo's bench. Ruff has an illustrious coaching record, including a long run with the Sabres from 1997 to 2013. Ruff's most coaching gig was in New Jersey, where he worked for roughly four years before getting fired late this season. Between those stops in Buffalo and NJ, he spent four years in Dallas. He boasts a points percentage above .500 on all three teams he's coached.

It's hard to blame Ruff for how things ended recently in New Jersey. The team was missing top defenseman Dougie Hamilton for 75% of the season, Jack Hughes for 25%, and frequently fell victim to lacklustre goaltending. Some might take issue with Ruff's deployment of Timo Meier at times this year, but considering Meier was quietly dealing with double MCL injury early on, perhaps Ruff's intent was to protect a player that wasn't 100%.

One thing we can take away from Ruff's recent dance with the Devils is that he has no problem leaning on his best players. Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt skated roughly 19-20 minutes a night in recent years. I'd expect the same pattern to emerge in Buffalo. So Tage Thompson, who averaged 18 minutes a game this year, could see another minute or two each night next year. As Buffalo's top forward, Thompson is the most obvious candidate for an ice-time boost, but the Sabres' roster features plenty of talented forwards who should see the same fate. Dylan Cozens, Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka are some of the more established youngsters who fit that bill.

Remember, Ruff steered New Jersey through that difficult transition from rebuilding to contending. It's a transition the Sabres have been struggling to make for the past few seasons, but there's hope Ruff can navigate that same journey again. With the focus being on winning games and making the playoffs, players who aren't carrying their weight at both ends of the ice may fall out of favour and see their opportunity reduced. Jeff Skinner is one such potential liability given his defensive carelessness. One might look at 18-year-old Zach Benson in a similar light – thinking such a young player probably lacks a strong two-way game and might not be ready to take on a big role with a contending team. While age would usually be a valid concern in a situation like this, Benson's defensive acumen makes it easier to deploy him than most young forwards.

From a fantasy perspective, the team adopting a more competitive mindset should hopefully lead to more wins for Buffalo goalies Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi. A more competitive team should also result in better plus-minus numbers for the players – assuming your fantasy league still tracks that stat.

Overall, hiring Ruff could provide the mentality change necessary for this Sabres' roster to finally get over the hump and break a 13-year playoff drought. The last man that led Buffalo to the playoffs was Lindy Ruff. Let's see if he can do it again.