Rangers Tab Gerard Gallant as New HC
Photo Credit: Gints Ivuskans/AFP via Getty Images
Twenty seven years to the day the Rangers franchise last lifted Lord Stanley’s Cup, the franchise agreed in principle on a four-year deal to make Gerard Gallant the 36th coach in franchise history. Owner Jim Dolan and Team President/General Manager Chris Drury very clearly have their sights set on repeating the glory of 1994, after considering a promising, but playoff-less 2021 season a failure. Gallant was tabbed to bring not only the toughness and grit the young Rangers lack, but also expose the team’s skill in a way that many believe former coach David Quinn failed to do.
Once it became apparent that Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour would be staying in Raleigh for the foreseeable future, the Rangers acted quickly to secure the coveted Gallant. Quite frankly, this Rangers team should be outbidding the likes of Seattle and Buffalo for any coach’s services, as they will have you know the Rangers expect to be a contender in 2021-22. While many fans still debate the merits of accelerating the rebuild at this stage, few will argue that any candidate was more equipped to spark immediate success than Gallant.
Much of Gallant’s track record has been built off of the work he did with the then-expansion Vegas Golden Knights, instituting a fast, physical and free-flowing style of hockey that saw the Sin City upstarts march all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in their first season. Many believe Gallant was unceremoniously relieved of his duties in Vegas, but he was coaching a team that simply could not afford to plateau. Due to the way most GM’s played the 2018 expansion draft, Vegas found themselves uniquely loaded with veteran talent which did afford them their miracle run (and the sustained success they still have), but it also made their current window for competition very, very small. The Golden Knights franchise simply could not risk the intense, but still young support of their fanbase. Vegas made a change not because Gallant was ill-equipped to coach the team, but for the simple fact that it was the only change the team could reasonably make. On top of his work in Vegas, Gallant comes highly coveted due to his work with the now-burgeoning young stars of the Florida Panthers.
The Rangers will hope they’ve hired the best of both coaching experiences for Gallant, who is now tasked with siring the next generation of Rangers stars while filling the roster around them with veteran grit and hockey IQ. Most importantly, Gallant will be tasked with carving out an identity for this Rangers team stuffed to the gills with skill, but lacking the straight-ahead style of play that’s seen teams like the Islanders and Gallant’s former club reach the final four of this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. Spitball’s lead Rangers expert/nutjob Nick Fischetti will be breaking down just how the team will look to improve their roster based on the hiring of Gallant. Feel free to bother him as much as humanly possible until he completes what should be an absolutely fantastic and thorough review of what we can expect from the Rangers this summer.