Despite being mentioned explicitly in their recent hockey operations hirings, Tuomo Ruutu will not return to the New York Rangers. Instead, he’ll be joining the Florida Panthers as an assistant coach, his first opportunity behind an NHL bench. Panthers’ GM Bill Zito released a statement on the hire:
We are proud to welcome Tuomo to the Panthers and receive him as an addition to Joel’s coaching staff. With his career in hockey spanning multiple decades, we believe his experience both as a player and working in player development in the NHL and internationally will be an invaluable addition to our organization as we prepare for an exciting 2021-22 campaign.
Importantly, and pointed out in the Panthers’ release, Ruutu also has a connection to top prospect Anton Lundell from their time together at the World Juniors. Ruutu has been an assistant on the U20 team each of the last three years, including at this most recent tournament when Lundell served as captain. That connection, along with his long history of success for Finland as a player, should only help Ruutu make an immediate impact on the Panthers next season.
It’s not just his international play that was successful though, as Ruutu was a pretty impactful forward in the NHL as well. He started his career with the Chicago Blackhawks after being selected ninth overall and finished sixth in Calder Trophy voting. Coincidentally, he was moved out of Chicago just before Joel Quenneville, his new boss in Florida, came in. In the 2010-11 season, Ruutu set a career-high in scoring with 57 points. He’ll now have to use some of that experience to connect with the young players in Florida.