Rangers part ways with head coach Gerard Gallant

The New York Rangers have parted ways with head coach Gerard Gallant according to Rogers Sportsnet on Saturday. Gallant was quite successful in his time as the Rangers head coach. The native of Summerside, Prince Edward Island had a record of 99 wins, 46 regulation losses and 19 losses in extra time while coaching the Blueshirts in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

2021-22

While with the Rangers in 2021-22, they had a regular season record of 52 wins, 24 regulation losses and six losses in extra time for 110 points. The Rangers then reached the Eastern Conference Final after beating the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games in the first round and then the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games in the second round. In the Eastern Conference Final, the Rangers were beaten by the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games.

2022-23

There were high hopes for the Rangers team in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. They acquired offensive snipers Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko to generate more offense. The Rangers finished the regular season with a record of 47 wins, 22 regulation losses and 13 losses in extra time for 107 points. That was only good enough for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

In the playoffs, things looked great for the Rangers in the early going as they took the 2-0 series lead. However, during the series, Devils head coach Lindy Ruff made a great mid-series adjustment in changing goaltenders. Out went Vitek Vanecek, and in came Akira Schmid, who won four of the next five games.

Philosophical Differences

There is no doubt that Gallant and Rangers general manager Chris Drury did not agree when it came to Gallant’s decisions of line combinations. Barclay Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey were getting top six forward time, when Drury felt they should have been more in a checking-line role.

Fourth NHL team as a coach

This was the fourth team Gallant has coached for. He was previously with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights. While with Vegas in 2018, the Golden Knights went to the Stanley Cup Finals in their first year of existence, before losing to the Washington Capitals.