Peter Laviolette, Darryl Sutter available as Rangers begin search for next coach
Peter Laviolette, left, and Darryl Sutter. Credit: AP
In his Zoom chat with local reporters after the Rangers’ announcement Saturday that they had “mutually agreed to part ways’’ with coach Gerard Gallant, general manager Chris Drury shed little light on the thought process that led him to make the change.
The more he and Gallant talked, Drury said, the more it became clear that a change made sense for both sides.
“We’re trying to find the right combination here and put ourselves in a good position next year,’’ Drury said.
He wouldn’t declare what he’s looking for in terms of coaching style or experience level in Gallant’s successor, saying he doesn’t want to “limit’’ his options.
A report in the New York Post said former Chicago and Florida coach Joel Quenneville, who currently is suspended by the NHL because of his role in the Kyle Beach sex scandal cover-up, will not be a candidate.
Peter Laviolette, the former Islanders, Carolina, Philadelphia, Nashville and Washington coach, is available, having “agreed to part ways’’ with the Capitals after the season. Darryl Sutter is out there, too, having been fired by the Flames last week.
Gallant, 59, leaves after two years, having led the Rangers to two 100-plus-point seasons, a 99-46-19 overall record and an appearance in the 2022 Eastern Conference final in his first season.
Expectations were raised after his first season, though, and from the beginning of season number two, something seemed not quite the same. The Rangers started 11-10-5 before a seven-game winning streak in early December turned things around. The streak sparked a 22-4-3 run that put them back on the right path.
But the Devils were always a bad matchup for the Rangers in the first round of the playoffs. Their speed made the Rangers look slow and old. When the Rangers won the first two games in New Jersey and then lost four of the next five to lose the series, Drury decided to pivot from Gallant, whose track record suggested that he has a relatively short shelf life, anyway. He’d been fired in the third season of each of his three previous coaching jobs.
By making the move now, Drury essentially allows the next coach to have a full training camp to install his systems and philosophies rather than trying to do it on the fly in the middle of next season.
Gallant was considered a players’ coach, one who, as Adam Fox said on breakup day last Wednesday, “respects guys [and] understands the kind of balance of the sport, in terms of . . . there’s a life away from [the rink] and it’s a long season and everything like that.’’
But Gallant was not renowned as an X’s-and-O’s coach, and his ability to make in-game adjustments was considered a weak point. He also didn’t seem all that willing to trust young players and help develop them.
He infamously scratched forward Kaapo Kakko in the final game of the playoffs in 2022. He seemed most comfortable playing Kakko, 22, on a third line with fellow youngsters Filip Chytil, 23, and Alexis Lafreniere, 21, while relying on older players on the top two lines.
On breakup day, Kakko, who scored a career-high 18 goals this season, was asked what he thinks is the next step in his development.
“I think maybe get some power-play time, and also play more,’’ he said.
It’ll be up to the new coach to make that happen.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
