The Stanley Cup Final begins June 3 at 8:00 P.M., and there are plenty of connections between members of the Devils organization to the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights.
The New Jersey Devils season came to an end on May 11. Over the past few weeks, the players went their separate ways to start their summer break. Nico Hischier and Jonas Siegenthaler represented Switzerland at the IIHF Men's World Championship, and Curtis Lazar reunited with his wife Reanne and son Owen.
For those interested in the Stanley Cup Final matchup between the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights, I put my investigative journalist hat on to find some odd connections between the Devils and the last two remaining teams, in addition to completing my own six degrees of separation connecting Devils' head coach Lindy Ruff to Paul Maurice and Bruce Cassidy. Let's dive in.
New Jersey's Connections to the Florida Panthers
- Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald has two special connections to the Panthers roster. The first is his son Casey Fitzgerald who appeared in four regular games for Florida this season and one playoff appearance versus the Boston Bruins on April 23. The second is Matthew Tkachuk, who is his second cousin.
- On June 29, 2021, the Panthers announced Tuomo Ruutu was hired as an assistant coach. The 40-year-old spent the last three seasons of his NHL career playing for the Devils and was a teammate of Damon Severson for two seasons.
- Panthers' center Colin White and Devils' winger Miles Wood were part of the Noble and Greenough School class 2015. They reunited and played for Boston College during the 2015-16 season with Casey and Ryan Fitzgerald.
- Aaron Ekblad has played with multiple Devils at various levels. He and Blackwood were teammates on the Barrie Colts during the 2013-14 season. Ekblad and Curtis Lazar were members of Team Canada during the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey Junior World Championship. Of course, Erik Haula was briefly a member of the Panthers and teammates with the Panthers' alternate captain during the 2019-20 season.
Let's Connect Lindy Ruff to Paul Maurice
Lindy Ruff served as assistant head coach of the Panthers during the 1995-96 campaign. During that season, Devils' current general manager, Tom Fitzgerald, earned 34 points for Florida. Fitzgerald is cousins with Keith Tkachuk, who was part of the 1990-91 All-Hockey East Rookie Team with Scott Lachance.
Lachance, who is currently the head of US scouting for the Devils, participated in the 1997 NHL All-Star Game with Martin Brodeur, who played under Peter DeBoer for three seasons. DeBoer and Paul Maurice were teammates on the Windsor Compuware Spitfires.
New Jersey's Connections to the Vegas Golden Knights
- Brendan Smith's brother, Reilly, is a third-line winger for the Golden Knights and most recently played alongside William Karlsson and Mike Amadio. Reilly was also part of Vegas' Stanley Cup Final run in 2018 with Erik Haula and Tomas Tatar.
- Devils assistant coach Ryan McGill was part of the Golden Knight's original coaching staff and was with the organization from 2017-18 through 2021-22.
- Vegas' Director of Goaltending and NHL Goaltending Coach is Sean Burke. New Jersey drafted him during the 1985 NHL Entry Draft (24th overall).
- Michael McLeod played with a few Golden Knights players throughout his career. He and Vegas defenseman Nicolas Hague were teammates for three seasons as members of the Mississauga Steelheads (along with Nathan Bastian). McLeod and Brett Howden were members of the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Now, Let's Connect Lindy Ruff to Bruce Cassidy
The Buffalo Sabres traded Ruff to the New York Rangers for a fifth-round draft pick in 1990, which turned into Richard Smehlik. Smehlik was part of the Devils' 2003 Stanley Cup Championship team with John Madden. The former Frank J. Selke Trophy winner finished his NHL career with the Panthers, the same organization that drafted goaltender Kevin Weekes. The now multimedia broadcaster and analyst is listed as an Ottawa 67's alumni along with Bruce Cassidy.
TNT will broadcast Game 1 on Saturday, June 3, when the Stanley Cup Final begins at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.