Former Rangers coach seeks NHL job, wants ‘opportunity to show people last year wasn’t on him’
Peter Laviolette has remained quiet publicly since he was fired as coach of the New York Rangers after they missed Stanley Cup Playoffs this season. That doesn’t mean Laviolette isn’t working behind the scenes to possibly land another head coaching job in the NHL.
In fact, NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman stated on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast Monday that Laviolette is quite motivated to erase the stain on his resume from the dismal 2024-25 season with the Rangers.
“He wanted to show people that last year wasn’t on him, and it was bigger than just coaching,” Friedman explained. “He would have the desire to prove it and show it and Laviolette does have the reputation as the turnaround master. His teams in the first year do extremely well. But he’s definitely got that mentality and the word on that is out there.”
Outside of Mike Keenan, who won the Stanley Cup in his only season as Rangers coach in 1993-94, no other coach in franchise history fared better in their first season than Laviolette. He guided the Rangers to franchise records in wins (55) and points (114), and they won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2023-24.
This past season was a complete trainwreck. And Laviolette is correct — it wasn’t all his fault. Behind-the-scenes soap opera drama bled onto the ice. The Rangers (39-36-7) missed the playoffs for the first time in four seasons and were often an unwatchable and unlikeable team with little fight and far too many no-shows.
General manager Chris Drury took blame for his role in the unsightly season. But at the end of the day, Drury received a contract extension, Laviolette was fired and Mike Sullivan was brought in as the new coach.
So, Laviolette is seeking another job. He’s the winningest United States-born coach in NHL history, and ranks seventh all-time with 846 victories. Laviolette coached the Carolina Hurricanes to the 2006 Stanley Cup championship and reached the Final with two other teams in his career.
There’s reason to believe that a seventh head coaching job is out there somewhere for Laviolette, either now or after the next round of firings.
Of the remaining six vacancies, the Philadelphia Flyers are likely not an option, since Laviolette’s “been there, done that” already. The Pittsburgh Penguins reportedly are seeking a younger coach, perhaps a first-timer. That leaves the Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and Seattle Kraken.
Laviolette has already been linked to the Canucks job, recently vacated by Rick Tocchet. The most appealing job likely was the Anaheim Ducks vacancy. But that was just filled by Joel Quenneville, in his return to the NHL coaching ranks.
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Friedman pointed out that Gerard Gallant has let it be known he’d like to get back into the coaching game in the NHL. It’s not believed he’s gotten much traction in interviews since the Rangers fired him after the 2022-23 season.
“Gerard Gallant interviewed in Toronto when [Craig] Berube got the job (last offseason), but that was more a courtesy interview. It was always Berube’s job to lose,” Friedman shared. “I don’t know if he’s been in any of these particular interviews this year, but I have heard he is eager to prove same thing (as Laviolette), when he was let go by the Rangers it wasn’t only about him. And he wants an opportunity to show people that, and we’ll see if he gets an opportunity to speak to teams about that.”
Gallant was 99-46-19 in two seasons as Rangers coach. He was the 2017-18 Jack Adams Award winner as NHL coach of the year with the Vegas Golden Knights and has a .576 points percentage in 705 NHL games with four teams.
David Quinn, fired as Rangers coach in 2021 and let go by the San Jose Sharks in 2024, remains under contract to the Penguins, where he was an assistant under Sullivan last season. One would think he could be a candidate there or at some of the other openings around the League.
John Tortorella, Rangers coach from 2009-13, also is unemployed after the Flyers fired him late this season.
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