New York Rangers president/general manager (GM) Chris Drury appears to be getting close to naming the next head coach of the organization. The Rangers have been searching for one since agreeing to part ways with Gerard Gallant on May 6.
The Rangers underachieved in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs a year after unexpectedly reaching the 2022 Eastern Conference Final. The next head coach will have the task of helping the club win its first championship since 1994. Let’s discuss who could be named New York’s next head coach in the latest edition of Rangers News & Rumors.
Laviolette Could Be Named the Next Rangers Head Coach Soon
Peter Laviolette appears to be the top candidate for the Rangers’ head coaching job. He has had previous stints with the New York Islanders (2001-2003), Carolina Hurricanes (2003-08), Philadelphia Flyers (2009-13), Nashville Predators (2014-19), and Washington Capitals (2020-23). He led the Hurricanes to a championship in the 2006 Playoffs and the Flyers (2010) and Predators (2017) to the Stanley Cup Final.
According to Anthony Scultore of Forever Blueshirts, it is unlikely the Rangers name a coach with little or no previous head coaching experience in the NHL. While it would be bold for GM Drury to hire a young coach, the club appears to be best suited for a veteran coach such as Laviolette.
Mollie Walker of the New York Post wrote that GM Drury played for Laviolette at the 2006 Winter Olympics for Team USA (from ‘The Chris Drury ties that may determine the next Rangers coach,’ New York Post, 5/11/23). It is possible the next head coach of the Rangers has previous ties to the GM.
A concern about hiring Laviolette is his lack of postseason success within the last five years. The last time he coached a team past the first round of the postseason was with the Predators in the 2018 Playoffs. His most recent coaching position with the Capitals was his least successful as the club did not win a playoff series during his three years as the head coach.
After his dismissal from the Capitals, Laviolette remains eager to be a head coach and hopes for another chance to reach a Stanley Cup Final, “I go to my Finals record and it’s 1-2, and that bothers me…That’s what drives me and probably leads back to the earlier conversation just about [being] that I and we couldn’t have done more to try to get further in the playoffs.”
Injuries to key players and having one of the oldest rosters in the league played a part in the lack of success he had in coaching the Capitals during 2022-23. However, the lack of playoff success over the last several years for Laviolette remains a concern if he is hired to be the next head coach of the Rangers.
Related: Rangers Coaching Options: Peter Laviolette
From a general perspective, hiring a veteran coach feels like the organization is continuing to do the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Three of their four previous head coaches – John Tortorella, Alain Vigneault, and Gallant – all had experience in the league but none could help the Rangers win a championship. If they hire another experienced coach, it will not create as much intrigue as deciding to take a chance on a young, up-and-coming coach.
Elliotte Friedman commented on the Rangers’ coaching search, “A lot of people are beginning to lean toward Laviolette. If it is Laviolette, we are going to find out next week. That’s where I sit with the Rangers coaching job.”
Other candidates that have been rumored to be considered for the Rangers’ coaching position are younger assistant coaches Jay Leach (Seattle Kraken) and Spencer Carbery (Toronto Maple Leafs). Hartford Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch is another young coach with limited coaching experience in the NHL. He filled in as the Rangers’ head coach when former coaches David Quinn and Gallant were each placed in COVID protocol.
More experienced head coaches that have been connected to the Rangers’ opening include Joel Quenneville, Mike Babcock, Pittsburgh Penguins’ Mike Sullivan, and Maple Leafs’ Sheldon Keefe. All of these candidates are far more unlikely to be hired than Laviolette, Leach, Carbery, or Knoblauch.
GM Drury is reaching the end of his search for the franchise’s next head coach with Laviolette seen as the favorite to be hired. Aside from his lack of postseason success over the last five years, he has plenty of experience in the NHL. His three appearances in the Stanley Cup Final and one championship will catch the eye of the Rangers’ GM. Drury needs to make the right hire because the team needs to win a championship with the core of players that are currently assembled.
