It’s been two weeks since the Rangers and Gerard Gallant went their separate ways and the search for the next coach is well underway. Chris Drury’s first coaching search, the one that ended with Gallant’s hiring two years ago, was pretty tight — the then-brand-new GM interviewed Gallant and Rick Tocchet before deciding on his coach.
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This one may go a bit longer and more in-depth for a number of reasons, a few of which we’ll lay out below.
So here’s the latest on where things stand, at least as far as conversations with league sources go — the Rangers have kept this pretty quiet so far. This isn’t a full accounting of the Rangers’ list, just updates on ones we know about now or could be candidates down the road.
Peter Laviolette
A league source said Laviolette interviewed with the Rangers this week. We’re not sure if the 58-year-old, five-time coach and 2006 Stanley Cup winner was the first candidate to meet with Drury but in the NHL coaching community, Laviolette is the one many believe is the front-runner here. He has incredible familiarity with the league and especially the Metro Division, having coached the Caps most recently and the Flyers, Hurricanes and Islanders before that.
He’s also taken teams to new heights in his first full season on the job, most notably in Carolina in 2005-06 and Philadelphia in 2009-10. His ability to take an established team and get it playing at a higher level should have appeal for Drury, who won’t be able to change too much about his roster given the lack of cap space this offseason.
Laviolette has already interviewed for the Blue Jackets’ coaching job and is considered a finalist of sorts there, alongside current Columbus associate coach Pascal Vincent. It’s unlikely the Rangers speed up their timeline to jump ahead of Columbus, though the Jackets are known to be eager to name a new coach in the coming weeks.
Mike Babcock
The same league source said Babcock also interviewed with the Rangers this week. The 60-year-old Babcock has been persona non grata around the league since he was fired by the Leafs in December of 2019, with several players speaking out about Babcock’s abusive treatment over his three decades behind the bench. But he has been eager to get back into the NHL and has interviewed with Columbus, like Laviolette.
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There’s a ton of baggage to go with a potential Babcock hire but it’s believed he has some support in the Rangers front office. His bedside manner may be downright noxious but he’s known to be a very technical coach, which may be what the Rangers desire after Gallant’s more hands-off approach.
Spencer Carbery
The Leafs assistant has sparked plenty of interest already, having interviewed with the Capitals and Ducks, according to reports, and now a planned sitdown with the Rangers. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported this week that the Rangers received permission to talk to the 41-year-old Carbery, who spent three years with the Caps’ AHL affiliate in Hershey and is believed to be one of two top choices for Washington to replace Laviolette, along with Lightning assistant Jeff Halpern.
Carbery could conceivably be on the Leafs’ radar now too with plenty of uncertainty around their coaching situation after Kyle Dubas’ departure from the GM job on Friday.
Jay Leach
It’s not known whether the Rangers have asked for permission to interview the Kraken assistant, but he’s almost certainly on Drury’s radar. Drury is close with Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, who brought Leach into the coaching ranks with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2015. Sullivan was the Rangers’ pipe-dream candidate, as he was two years ago — given he’s been involved with the Penguins’ search for a GM it was basically impossible to think he’d get himself free to come to one of Pittsburgh’s rivals.
But Sullivan is a hearty backer of Leach, who was a finalist for the Bruins job last summer. So a wide-ranging Rangers search will quite likely include one of the up-and-coming coaches.
Sheldon Keefe
He’s still the Leafs coach, so it’s hard to even call him a candidate at this point. But with all that went down in Leafs-land on Friday, Keefe may be on the coaching market at some point in the near future.
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Dubas leaving the Leafs means the GM who hired Keefe every step of the coach’s post-playing career — from Sault Ste. Marie in the OHL to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies to the Leafs — is gone. Brendan Shanahan will bring in a new GM at some point and Keefe may find himself on the outs then.
Whether the Rangers job is still vacant at that time remains to be seen, but Keefe has a unique combination of progressive thinking and big-market NHL experience now. That could hold some appeal for the Rangers.
Joel Quenneville
He was in even before Gallant was let go, then he was out because the league wasn’t going to clear him in a short time frame… Now could Quenneville be in again? The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun confirmed on Friday that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will meet with Quenneville after the Stanley Cup Final to see whether the 64-year-old, who has been under an unofficial league suspension since Oct. 2021, should be reinstated.
And if the Rangers haven’t made a coaching choice by then, would Quenneville be a consideration? There would be plenty of fallout given Quenneville’s role in covering up the Kyle Beach incident while with the Hawks 13 years ago, but if the league clears him and the Rangers job is open, it’s hard to see where Drury wouldn’t investigate. “He’s the best coach not working now, hands down,” a longtime team executive said.
Rangers let trainer Ramsay go
The Rangers let go of Ramsay, their athletic trainer since 1994, this week. Ramsay is one of the most respected trainers in hockey, having worked several Olympics as Team Canada’s trainer as well as working through several regimes with the Rangers. It’s not believed to be a hockey operations issue. “We do not comment on employee matters,” was the Garden’s statement.
(Photo of Chris Drury: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
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