The New Jersey Devils hired veteran coach Lindy Ruff on Thursday to take over one of the NHL's youngest teams and removed the interim tag from Tom Fitzgerald's title as general manager.

The former New York Rangers assistant replaces interim coach Alain Nasreddine, who guided the team to a 19-16-8 record after John Hynes was fired on Dec. 3. Fitzgerald had served as interim general manager since Ray Shero was fired on Jan. 12.