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Sabres give head coach Lindy Ruff two-year contract extension

Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff speaks with team during the third period in Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Buffalo.
Jeffrey T. Barnes
/
AP
Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff speaks with team during the third period in Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

After leading the Buffalo Sabres from worst to first, and then into their first National Hockey League postseason run since 2011, head coach Lindy Ruff is sticking around for a while longer.

The Sabres announced Wednesday they had signed Ruff to a two-year contract extension, through the 2027-28 season.

He is the Buffalo hockey franchise’s winningest coach and is currently a finalist for the NHL’s Jack Adams Award, given to the league’s coach of the year. He previously won the award while coaching the Sabres in the 2005-06 season, and was nominated three other times with three different teams, Buffalo, Dallas and New Jersey.

He began his lengthy relationship with the Sabres as a player, selected by the team in the second round of the NHL draft. His ten years playing for the Sabres included some time as a captain. He later played three seasons with the New York Rangers.

Ruff then returned to Buffalo as a coach in 1997, and remained with the Sabres until the 2012-13 season. He was rehired by the organization in 2024.

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