New York Rangers hire new head coach in Gerard Gallant

The New York Rangers have reached an agreement with Gerard Gallant on Monday to be their next head coach.

The New York Rangers underwent an overhaul toward the end of this season. Owner James Dolan fired team president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton and effectively replaced them with former forward Chris Drury, and head coach David Quinn was let go at the conclusion of the regular season. It was up to Drury to find a head coach to bring the team to contention, and it seems like they found their guy.

According to Larry Brooks of The New York Post, the Rangers have reached an agreement with Gerard Gallant to be their next head coach, the 36th in franchise history. Gallant had most recently coached the Vegas Golden Knights from 2017 until his firing in 2020.

Rangers to hire Gerard Gallant, formerly of the Golden Knights, to be their next head coach

The Rangers did have obvious interest in Gallant, as they interviewed him for the vacant position just before he coached Team Canada in the IIHF World Championships this past month. The very team he coached went on to win the gold medal after they started off the tournament 0-3.

While Gallant did have stints coaching the Columbus Blue Jackets (2003-06) and the Florida Panthers (2014-16), he is perhaps best known for what he did leading the Golden Knights. In the team’s first year of existence, they finished the regular-season with a 51-24-7 record, a Western Conference championship and a berth in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final. As a result of his efforts, Gallant was named the winner of the Jack Adams award for best head coach of the 2017-18 season.

Through his nine years in the NHL, Gallant holds a 270-216-4-51 cumulative record.

Gallant enters a very desirable destination in New York. Their rebuild process was expedited after they landed the first and second overall selections in consecutive years, which snagged them Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, respectively, and upon signing star winger Artemi Panarin to a long-term contract. Even though the team was a year or so away from truly growing into a contender, Dolan reportedly wanted to see some results.

The Rangers feel they have found the guy in Gallant to take them to the next level, which is winning their first Stanley Cup since 1994.