The New York Rangers' Stanley Cup hopes went down in flames when they were eliminated by the rival New Jersey Devils in the opening-round of this postseason. Despite acquiring veterans (and proven champions) Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko in the regular season, the Rangers weren't able to muster a playoff series win for the first time since the 2019-20 playoffs.
As a result of the team's early exit, New York decided to part ways with head coach Gerard Gallant on Saturday. The team hired him not long ago, in June of 2021. He's the latest Rangers coach to be given a rather short leash.
Since the 2009-2010 campaign, the Rangers have gone through four different head coaches. They have an impressive 580 wins to 388 losses in that time, yet the franchise is looking for its fifth head coach since after firing Gallant.
It's kind of become a theme that the Rangers have fired their head coach at the first sign of struggles. In fact, two of the team's last four head coaches have been let go after three seasons or less behind the bench. It's also been an abundance of missed opportunities for the franchise in recent years, as they've reached the Stanley Cup Final on just one occasion since 2009
Let's take a closer look at the Rangers head coaches during that stretch and how quickly they've been given their walking papers.
John Tortorella
John Tortorella replaced Tom Renney on Feb. 23, 2009 as the Rangers head coach. Tortorella had a very successful tenure with the Tampa Bay Lightning before landing in New York, which included leading the Lightning to a Stanley Cup in 2004. The veteran head coach led the Rangers to a 12-7-2 finish during the 2008-09 campaign before losing in the opening round to the Washington Capitals.
During the five seasons in New York, Tortorella put together a 171-118-29 record as the Rangers head coach, but never got any further than the Eastern Conference Final. In May 2013, the Rangers fired Tortorella just days after the Boston Bruins eliminated the Rangers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in five games.
Alain Vigneault
Just a month after being fired by the Vancouver Canucks, Alain Vigneault was hired to replace Tortorella and signed a five-year, $10 contract to be the Rangers next head coach. The Rangers got off to a strong start under the direction of Vigneault. He led the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Final in his first campaign, where New York fell to the Los Angeles Kings in five games. It marked the first Stanley Cup Final appearance for New York since they won it all in 1994.
The Rangers made it to the Eastern Conference Final in the next season, but fell at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games. In the ensuing two postseasons, the Rangers were eliminated in the opening round by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and by the Ottawa Senators in the second round in 2017. After missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs during the 2017-18 season, Vigneault was relieved of his duties by the franchise.
David Quinn
Following Vigneault's dismissal, the Rangers hired David Quinn switched it up and looked to the college ranks for a coach. They settled on Quinn, who had an extremely successful tenure at Boston University. The Rangers were in a midst of rebuilding their roster when Quinn took over. As a result, New York missed the postseason in Quinn's first season with the team.
Quinn did lead the Rangers to a 37-28-5 record (79 points) during the COVID-19-shortened campaign in 2019-20, in which they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Qualifying Round in three games. The Rangers then missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs during the 2020-21 season and Quinn was fired in May of 2021 after failing to win a playoff game in his three seasons.
That firing signaled the Rangers shaking up the franchise in a big way. When the team fired Quinn, they also parted ways with John Davidson and Jeff Gorton in the front office. On May 5, 2021, the Rangers promoted Chris Drury to President and General Manager.
Gerard Gallant
The Rangers then turned to former Vegas Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant to try and take the franchise to the next level following Quinn's rebuild. In his first season as the Rangers bench boss, Gallant tallied a 52-24-6 record (110 points) and lead New York to a second-place finish in the Metropolitan Division. The Rangers made it to the Eastern Conference Final and even had a 2-0 series lead against the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. However, the Rangers dropped four consecutive games to lose the series.
Gallant produced another successful regular-season with the Rangers during the 2022-23 campaign. New York produced a 47-22-13 record (107 points) throughout the regular season and he became the first Rangers coach to record back-to-back 100-point seasons in his first two years with the franchise. But Dedpite winning the opening two games of their opening round series against the New Jersey Devils, the Rangers were defeated 4-0 in Game 7 of that series. Gallant was then fired on May 6.
