In an odd mix between being a surprising yet expected move, the New York Rangers have announced that they have "mutually agreed to part ways" with head coach Gerard Gallant. This will mark the end of his two-year stint in New York, and the Rangers now become a new player on the head-coaching market this summer.
Gallant’s first stint in coaching came when he joined the Columbus Blue Jackets as an assistant for their inaugural season in the league. As the franchise got off to a slow start, as was typical for expansion franchises at the time, Gallant was promoted to head coach of the Blue Jackets halfway through the 2003-04 season. Getting off to a 5-9-1 start to the 2006-07 season, Gallant was fired by the Blue Jackets organization and finished his first head-coaching stint with a 56-76-4-6 record.
From 2008 to 2014, Gallant would spend time with the New York Islanders and Montreal Canadiens, both in the assistant coach position. Between those two stops on his coaching journey, Gallant would spend three seasons in the QMJHL as head coach of the Saint John Sea Dogs. Finally, after moving on from the Canadiens, Gallant would get his next opportunity as a head coach in the NHL, joining the Florida Panthers before the 2014-15 season.
In Florida, Gallant had the benefit of joining a team that could seemingly only improve. In the 2013-14 season, Florida finished 29th in the league and would be awarded the No. 1 overall selection in the 2014 NHL Draft, selecting Barrie Colts defenseman, Aaron Ekblad. In his first full season coaching Florida, the team improved better than expected, improving by 25 points in the standings year-on-year, and barely missing the playoffs.
In the 2015-16 season, the Panthers would finally make it back to the playoffs, finishing first in the Atlantic Division, but ultimately losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Islanders. After an 11-10-1 start to the 2016-17 season, Gallant was once again let go at the beginning of the season.
It would not take long for Gallant to find his new home, as he was hired by the newest expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights, before their first season in 2017-18. Accomplishing one of the most unexpected feats in NHL history, Gallant would lead the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in their first season, losing to the Washington Capitals in five games. Taking a step back during the 2018-19 season, the Golden Knights would once again make the playoffs, but this time losing in the first round to the San Jose Sharks.
Just missing the 50-game mark of the 2019-20 season, Gallant would coach the Golden Knights to a 24-19-6 record and would be subsequently fired midseason once again in his head-coaching career. He would finish his stint in Vegas with a 118-75-20 record over 213 games.
Finally, he once again found his way to the Big Apple, joining the Rangers as head coach starting in the 2021-22 season. In his two-year stint in New York as head coach, he led the Rangers to a 99-46-19 record and an Eastern Conference Finals berth last year. Heading into the 2022-23 NHL offseason, the Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Blue Jackets, Capitals and now the Rangers all have head-coaching vacancies to fill.
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