The New York Rangers are a complete disaster. It’s not on the level of the 1970s, with George Steinbrenner, Billy Martin, and the New York Yankees players. That saga was nicknamed ‘The Bronx is Burning’. The Rangers situation is not on that level, but it’s getting close.
It was a dysfunctional season that started last offseason and carried into the season. It led to unrest amongst the players in the locker room. Ultimately, General Manager Chris Drury decided that a coaching change was necessary. On Saturday, Drury announced that Peter Laviolette would not be returning as head coach. In addition, he announced that defensive coach Phil Housley was also being let go.
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The coaching change was a move that had been coming, as RG Media reported before the final game on Thursday night. With the way the season played out with the core group, the coach was going to take the fall for the poor play by the players. The core group took it upon themselves to have a mutiny because they did not like how Drury handled the Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba situations in the summer. Even with the good start, Drury was looking to change his group.
Drury made it known that change was coming, and players like Trouba, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, K’Andre Miller, and Kaapo Kakko were on the block. The players were unhappy that their names had been made public in the media. Drury felt something needed to change after their loss to Florida in Game 6 of the 2024 Eastern Conference Final. But doing it with a 12-5-1 record in November might not be the best.
While the New York Rangers had a winning record, the team was not playing up to their standard. But that had a lot to do with the rift between the players and the GM. Peter Laviolette was a casualty of that rift. Even with Trouba and Kakko being traded, and J.T. Miller joining, the culture was already broken, and there was no turning back.
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The damage was already done with the slide the Rangers went on from the end of November through January. It was a self-inflicted wound from which they could not recover. The personnel was similar to the group that went to the Eastern Conference Final last season and won the Presidents’ Trophy. However, there is an issue in that room that needs to be addressed.
“We’re going to be looking at everything. Whether it’s the specific question you ask or other things that have come up along the way, this year we’ve already begun to look at and looked at during the year,” Drury told the media during his press conference on Saturday. Unfortunately, we do have extra time with not being in the playoffs to look at a lot of things this offseason and, again, try and make sure we’re back in the playoffs next year.”
With the coach already being removed, that is not the only culture issue inside the Rangers organization. The owner is very volatile. He tried to hotshot the rebuild and is stuck in this cycle of hiring and firing a coach every two years. Which means the General Manager’s job will be looked at.
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Even though Chris Drury is preparing to be the GM next season for the Rangers, he has yet to discuss his job security with owner James Dolan. However, as RG Media reported, the GM could be next.
“If they decide to make a coaching change, is the GM that far behind him?” an anonymous NHL executive told RG Media. “How many coaches will he be allowed to hire? Continuously doing this every two years is not an ideal situation. Owners do not like that. Plus, who would want to coach there?”
First it was David Quinn, then Gerard Gallant, now it is Peter Laviolette. It will be interesting to see what direction they go in when it comes to a head coach. Drury said he is open to anything when it comes to coaching candidates. More on the potential candidates another time.
But the new coach is going to need buy-in from his players all the time, not just in the first year. Thus, a change is needed on the roster. Again, players like Kreider and K’Andre Miller will be mentioned alongside Mika Zibanejad. Despite what Zibanejad says about his contract and the no-movement clause, players with a no-movement clause have been moved.
But something needs to change in that room for the Rangers to have sustained success. More change is coming for the New York Rangers. The coaching staff was just the first domino to fall. There will be more changes, especially to that roster. They can’t run it back.
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