The New York Rangers have agreed to hire Gerard Gallant as the team's next head coach, according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post. The Rangers were in the market for a new man behind the bench after the franchise fired David Quinn following the 2020-21 season.
Quinn was relieved of his duties just days after the Rangers fired general manager Jeff Gorton and team president John Davidson. Both Davidson and Gorton were replaced by Chris Drury, who was previously the team's associate general manager.
Gallant comes to New York following his most recent stint as the head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights. The 57-year-old was the first head coach in Golden Knights history and led the franchise to the Stanley Cup Final in Vegas' inaugural season while winning the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in 2017-18.
Gallant also had previous head coaching stops with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers. In his nine seasons as an NHL head coach, Gallant has accumulated a 270-216-4-51 record. The former Golden Knights head coach was fired during the 2019-20 season by the team and was replaced by fellow former Panthers coach Peter DeBoer.
The Rangers finished in fifth place in the East Division with a 27-23-6 record this past season. New York currently has several building blocks on the current roster including 2020 Hart Trophy finalist Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and 2020 No. 1 pick Alexis Lafreniere.
