Rangers close to hiring Peter Laviolette for HC job

Shortly after the Calgary Flames named Ryan Huska their 21st head coach in franchise history, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the New York Rangers are prepared to name their 44th. Although nothing is officially complete now, Friedman writes that Peter Laviolette will man the bench for the Rangers next season unless something dramatic changes.

In just over two years spent as head coach of New York, the Rangers recently let go of head coach Gerard Gallant. In those two seasons spent in New York, Gallant coached the Rangers to a 99-46-19 record, losing in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022, and the first round of the playoffs in 2023. Coaching a team currently constructed as a Stanley Cup contender, the lack of playoff success likely pushed Gallant out the door.

About two weeks before Gallant’s exit in New York, Laviolette was also shown the door by his former employer, the Washington Capitals. Also coaching a team with expectations of playoff success, the Capitals finished this season with a 35-37-10 record and missed the playoffs entirely. After coaching in the United States Capital for three seasons, Laviolette finished his career in Washington with a coaching record of 115-78-27, including two first-round exits.

Although Gallant was able to coach the upstart Vegas Golden Knights to the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals, Laviolette is much more of a proven winner as a head coach. His first head coaching job in the NHL came all the way back during the 2001-02 season, coaching the New York Islanders for two seasons. Finishing his Islanders’ tenure with a 77-62-19-6 record, Laviolette was able to get the Islanders to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

After the Carolina Hurricanes fired then-head coach Paul Maurice after the 2002-03 season, Laviolette quickly joined on as head coach to replace him. Spending five seasons in Carolina, Laviolette’s stay with the Hurricanes was somewhat of a mixed bag. He only finished with a slight winning percentage, going 167-122-6-28, and missed the playoffs three times, having been fired midway through the 2008-09 season. Minus the playoff exits, Laviolette was able to coach the Hurricanes to their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history during the 2006 NHL Playoffs.

Although his tenure in Carolina was a mixed bag, after joining the Philadelphia Flyers as head coach before the 2009-10 season, Laviolette got off to a quick start. The Flyers made the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals but ultimately lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games. The following two seasons, the Flyers would be knocked out in the semi-finals in back-to-back years, but still finished as one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference.

After missing the playoffs entirely during the 2012-13 season, Laviolette was quickly dismissed after only three games into the 2014-15 season, not returning to the NHL for the rest of the year. Before the start of the 2014-15 season, Laviolette was named the new head coach of the Nashville Predators. For the first time since his stay with the Islanders, Laviolette was able to coach the Predators to the playoffs every year spent as head coach (before his firing during the 2019-20 season). The most notable playoff appearance in Nashville came during the 2016-17 season, as the team made the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.

In all, Laviolette has coached his team to the playoffs 13 times and missed the playoffs only five times after 18 full seasons of coaching. He has appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals three times, and his only successful one came with the Hurricanes back in 2006. The Rangers will become the fifth team that Laviolette has coached within the NHL’s Metropolitan Division.