It's rare that an assistant coach boasts more experience and wins than the actual bench boss.

That's now the case in New York, where Lindy Ruff has joined Alain Vigneault's staff to help with the Rangers defense.

Despite trailing his new assistant in games coached (1,493-1,134) and regular-season wins (736-614), Vigneault isn't worried about Ruff standing in as his potential replacement.

"Now that we have Lindy on board, I know what some fans and people in the media will say if we get off to a rough start or hit some bumps in the road," Vigneault told Larry Brooks of the New York Post on Monday. "They’ll be saying that Lindy should replace A.V. and that’s the reason he was hired.

"You know what? That kind of talk doesn’t bother me at all. I’ve never taken things like that personally. I’m in this to win," he said. "I want us to have the best coaching staff we can. For me to be able to bring in a coach like Lindy to take care of the defense makes us a stronger staff and gives our team a better chance to win. It’s great for us."

Ruff is coming off a four-year run as head coach of the Dallas Stars, preceded by a 15-season stint with Buffalo during which he led the Sabres to the Stanley Cup Final in 1999 and won the Jack Adams Award in 2006.

"Lindy brings so much to the staff in terms of experience and knowledge and the way he sees the game," Vigneault added. "And he has experience running the defense on the bench from his days as an assistant in Florida and with the (2014) Canadian Olympic Team."

Ruff's Stars had the fourth-highest goals against total among all teams over the past four seasons, but having Henrik Lundqvist as the last line of defense should help his cause in New York.

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