New York Rangers keeping Alain Vigneault as head coach

After an early exit from the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, the New York Rangers are keeping Alain Vigneault on as head coach for next season.

The 2015-16 season started so promising for the New York Rangers, who won 15 of their first 20 games and looked to be ready to make another run toward the Stanley Cup Finals. Now, the Rangers are watching the rest of the playoffs after a late season collapse and first round exit at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

With a season that many fans and even the team can call disappointing, there were questions as to whether the team would make a chance in the coaching staff, particularly with head coach Alain Vigneault.

Thursday, Vigneault told a Montreal french language newspaper, LaPresse, that he will be back behind the bench for the New York Rangers during the 2016-17 season:

"“I’ve had discussions with the club’s front office and they told me that they wanted me to come back next season.”“There’s definitely going to be changes. I don’t know if there’ll be big changes because today, it’s hard to make big changes. With the salary cap, it’s not realistic to think that way.”"

Vigneault has spent the last three seasons as the head coach of the New York Rangers, leading the team to the Stanley Cup Finals in his first season (losing to the Los Angeles Kings) and the Eastern Conference Finals a year later, winning the Presidents Cup in the process before losing in seven games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Before becoming head coach of the New York Rangers, Vigneault spent seven seasons as the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, leading that franchise to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011 before losing to the Boston Bruins.

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