Over the weekend, the New York Rangers announced that they have mutually decided to part ways with Head Coach, Gerard Gallant. Gallant has manned the Rangers bench for the last two seasons following the abrupt house cleaning that ensued after the Tom Wilson debacle. Gallant had two relatively effective seasons at the helm of the Rangers but after taking a massive step back in their first round exit to the Devils, it isn’t surprising that change is a comin’. It hasn’t been addressed yet whether anyone else on the coaching staff will be moving on but word on that could be coming sooner rather than later. Mike Kelly has spent the majority of his coaching career as a right hand man to Gallant, always being let go when Gallant was let go in the past. That being said, I’d expect at the very least for Mike Kelly to be fired also, if not all of the Assistants. Regardless, with Gallant parting ways with New York, the question must be asked, who next? Let's take a deep dive into several different names. Some that the Rangers should not consider, some that could be an intriguing option and ones I feel should be the front runners.
Avoid At All Costs
Joel Quenneville - Pretty much from the moment the Rangers were eliminated, speculation picked up that the Rangers were going to target longtime coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, Joel Quenneville. For those of you who may not know all the details involving the Kyle Beach story, Joel Quenneville was the head coach of the Blackhawks when Kyle Beach, a taxi-squad-like member of that 2010 cup winning team was sexually assaulted by the team’s video coach. This mortifying situation was swept under the rug to keep the focus on competing for a championship and Quenneville played a huge role in covering that story up. As a result, Quenneville is currently banned from coaching in the NHL but supposedly wants to return. There hasn’t been any change to the league's rightful decision to ban him from coaching in the NHL but in the event that there is, the Rangers better stay far away. Not only would that decision lose the respect of a great number of Rangers fans, it would just be taking a major step backwards in the direction the Rangers, the league and the game of hockey as a whole should be heading.
Darryl Sutter - In case you haven’t followed Darryl Sutter’s recent endeavors, his one year of coaching the Calgary Flames almost cost the franchise half of their players currently under contract. Numerous members of this team planned to request a trade out of Calgary unless the Flames fired Sutter which should be more than enough reason for the Rangers to stay away. Sutter’s old school style of coaching is not effective in the modern era and would be an exceptional disaster to one of the league’s youngest team’s. Sutter couldn’t be bothered to learn the names and numbers of players making their NHL debuts on his bench. Do you think that kind of leadership is going to help Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere flourish? Hard no. Sure Sutter has some championships under his belt but none of that matters when you consider his recent endeavor which was a colossal failure.
Mike Babcock - A time has to come when the NHL finally stops cycling through the same 40 coaches. Mike Babcock may have an extensive resume of coaching in the National Hockey League but his time doing so is over. There’s red flags associated with him, his coaching style is also outdated, let’s move forward here. His last coaching stint in the show was with Toronto and that didn’t work out well for either party. He’s the lesser of three evils if it came down to him, Quenneville and Sutter but that isn’t justification for the Rangers to have any considerations. Move onward, move upward.
Mark Messier - You know that one guy from your hometown that scored the winning touchdown in homecoming ‘03 or scored the overtime game winning goal in the state championship back in ‘05? That same guy that is seemingly always around despite the fact he graduated decades ago? By no means am I comparing Messier to “that guy,” but he had his moment in Rangers history. Let’s not risk tarnishing it by having him coach this team when the stakes are at an all time high. Would Messier be a good coach? I don’t know, maybe. Would he take this team to its destined glory, like he did almost three decades ago? I don’t know, maybe. Although you can’t just hope and assume that who he was as a player and what he did for this franchise is going to make him an effective coach. Frankly, there’s too much risk with this decision and there are better candidates out there. Messier’s doing just fine as an ESPN analyst, let it be.
Bruce Boudreau - To be honest, I don’t hate the idea of Bruce coming to New York, I just don’t see it being the right move for either side. Boudreau really seems to be a great person and a coach that players love playing for, but he isn’t the type of coach you go out and get when you’re trying to win now. Besides, Gallant was also a guy that players allegedly loved playing for and two years later, we’re posting wanted ads again. Especially from a fan perspective, it’s easy to say oh yeah Bruce is awesome but given the pressure of the Big Apple and how high the stakes are with this team right now, it’s not the best idea but certainly not the worst.
Intriguing Candidates
Andrew Brunette - Since retiring from playing in the NHL in 2013, Andrew Brunette has quickly risen through the ranks of hockey management having been an Assistant Coach and Assistant General Manager with the Wild. He then joined Joel Quenneville’s Coaching Staff in Florida, taking over as Interim Head Coach when Quenneville so kindly stepped aside before he could be fired. *eye roll* Anyway, Brunette isn’t a bad choice, he did lead the Panthers to a President’s Trophy winning season.I just don’t see him fixing whatever isn’t working in New York. He’s currently serving beside Lindy Ruff as an Assistant in New Jersey and while I’m sure he would be interested in a Head Coaching opportunity across the river, I don’t see him having a huge impact with this current group and their situation.
Alex Tanguay - To the best of my knowledge, no one has really mentioned Alex Tanguay when it comes to filling the Rangers coaching void so this is definitely a bit of an out there idea. Tanguay doesn’t have an extensive history with coaching but did have stints as an Assistant with the Detroit Red Wings and Iowa Wild of the AHL. There’s a couple connections here that make sense. For starters, he played and won a Cup with Chris Drury back in Colorado. He’s also from Quebec and one of the best playmakers from the early 2000s. Is there a chance he could be of extra service to a fellow youngster playmaker from Quebec that the Rangers are hoping becomes an elite star? Like I said, this one is quite a longshot but I’m sure Chris Drury wouldn’t mind sitting down for an interview with an old friend.
Brad Larsen - On the subject of old friends, Drury also played with Brad Larsen back in Colorado. Larsen is currently the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets and to the best of my knowledge, doesn’t have any plans of leaving or being asked to leave. However, unless Columbus wins the draft lottery tonight, is there anything really keeping Larsen in Columbus versus the city so nice they named it twice? Again, I’m sure Drury would love to sit down with an old friend and have a chat, though probably not worth poaching an opposing team’s head coach unless you really believe in the guy.
Pascal Vincent - Currently an Assistant to Brad Larsen in Columbus, Pascal Vincent is actually a very intriguing option. This is a guy who has not only won an award for being an outstanding coach in the AHL, but was also Coach of the Year and General Manager of the Year in back to back seasons in the QMJHL. As a bit of a renaissance man, having coached and managed, he could bring an interesting perspective to this Rangers team. However, he doesn’t have experience coaching in the NHL and Chris Drury doesn’t really need any assistance in GM duties. Certainly a dark horse candidate but with that, would hold more risks than rewards.
One Wildcard
Rand Pecknold - Rand Pecknold is most famously the former Summer Hockey Camp Coach of yours truly, but in case you missed it, he also just won Quinnipiac their first ever NCAA Championship. It’s truly not spoken about enough what Rand has done over on the northside of my hometown with QU. From holding open tryouts and having more goalies than defenseman on the teams inaugural roster, to winning a Division I NCAA Championship, Rand Pecknold single handedly built one of the biggest power houses in college hockey today. The reason I’m not putting him higher on the Rangers priority list is because I truly get the impression that he’s content coaching college hockey and staying with Quinnipiac, however I’d love to be proven wrong. I also get the impression that the Rangers aren’t going to want to go the NCAA-New York route again after the whole David Quinn saga. Nevertheless, would love to be able to say that my former coach is the Head Coach of the New York Rangers.
Should Strongly Be Considered
Peter Laviolette - If the Rangers want to go with the most experienced, least problematic proven Head Coach available, Peter Laviolette is their guy. Lavioulette has coached all over the league. Washington, Nashville, Philadelphia, Carolina, as well as just a ferry ride away on Long Island. This is a guy who has won the Stanley Cup and lost it several other times. He’s a veteran in every sense of the term and if the Rangers want to play it safe, he very well could be their guy. The biggest question that it all comes down to is whether or not the Rangers want to play it safe and go with the guy who has the history or take a risk on a newer name that has the right mindset. Given where the team currently finds themselves and the direction they're looking to go, he might be a good fit.
Kris Knoblauch - People forget, Kris Knoblauch already has a win under his belt as the Rangers head coach (Filling in during COVID). The Hartford Wolf Pack are currently in the midst of their deepest playoff run in quite some time. Kris Knoblauch, who Chris Drury hand selected to coach the Rangers JV squad, has done an extraordinary job in Hartford and whether it’s with the Rangers or not, deserves a promotion to the NHL. In a perfect world, the Rangers would go out and get a Mike Sullivan or Jon Cooper but let’s think about that for a second. Jon Cooper got to be the coach in Tampa because he was their AHL affiliate’s Head Coach and did a hell of a job. Sound familiar? The Rangers need to start focusing on that sort of developmental success and if Knoblauch is playing a big hand in the development down in Hartford, what better way to reward that both for him and the organization than by promoting him to New York. If the decision was in my hands, I would give the reins over to Knoblauch the second Hartford’s playoff run is complete.
Manny Malhotra - Speaking of if the decisions were up to me… Look, I've been barking up the Manny Malhotra tree for years now. Is it because he was my Dad’s favorite player back in the day and I have a framed souvenir of him in my hockey shrine or is it because he’s exactly what the Rangers need? I know which answer you’re probably guessing but in case you need to be convinced: He was a face-off specialist, the Rangers have been notoriously bad at face-offs. He’s a young guy who’s been a successful assistant coach in Toronto and Vancouver. Players love him, team’s love him, he was a Rangers draft pick, he could be due for a chance to prove himself at the helm. I would love to see the Rangers give him a chance at being the Head Coach and of all Assistant to Head Coach paths, Malhotra has the highest ceiling. We may not know for sure how effective he’d be as a Head Coach just yet, but it’d be worth finding out.
Jay Leach - Jay Leach is currently an Assistant Coach with the Seattle Kraken who is looking to make the jump to NHL Head Coach. Leach has a respectable resume of playing the game at every level as well as coaching with Mike Sullivan in Wilkes-Barre before transferring to the Providence Bruins. From there, he would quickly rise the ranks and become their head coach, eventually landing an NHL gig with Seattle. Given how successful Seattle has been in their second season ever, you have to think he’s worth taking a look at. Especially when you factor in their current 2-1 lead on the series against Dallas. Again, he doesn’t have Head Coaching experience at the NHL level but he has certainly seemed to prove capable of success at several different levels.
Chris Feldman
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