The New York Rangers announced on Saturday, two days after their season ended, that they have fired head coach Peter Laviolette after he spent two seasons in the position. Laviolette mutually parted ways with the Washington Capitals two years ago. Associate coach Phil Housley was also relieved of his duties.
Today I informed Peter Laviolette and Phil Housley that we’re making a coaching change,” said New York GM Chris Drury in a statement. “I want to thank them both and wish them and their families all the best going forward. Peter is first class all the way, both professionally and personally, and I am truly grateful for his passion and dedication to the Rangers in his time as head coach.
After finishing with the best regular season record in the NHL a year ago and making a trip to the Eastern Conference Final, we came into this season with high expectations for ourselves. Quite simply, we failed to meet those expectations. We must all do better – myself included. As we head into next season and beyond, I felt that a change was necessary in order to give us the best chance to achieve our goals as an organization. Our search for a new head coach will begin immediately.”
After winning the Presidents’ Trophy and coming two wins shy of the Stanley Cup Final in Laviolette’s first season, New York missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs by six points and finished with a 39-36-6 record (.518 points percentage) this past regular season.
The Rangers finished 12th with a 3.11 goals-per-game average, 19th with a 3.11 goals-against per game average, 28th with a .176 power-play efficiency, and 11th with a .803 penalty-killing efficiency in a season where they traded six starters from their opening night roster, including captain Jacob Trouba.
New York went an NHL-worst 5-16-0 (.238) from November 20-January 4, which included a 3-1 loss to the 29th-placed Philadelphia Flyers on November 29, 5-3 loss to the 27th-placed Seattle Kraken at home despite leading 3-1 on December 8, 2-1 loss to the 31st-placed Chicago Blackhawks at Madison Square Garden the following day, and 2-0 loss to the 30th-placed Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on December 17. They also got outscored 14-3 in two losses to the 26th-placed Buffalo Sabres and fell 3-2 at home to the 24th-placed Pittsburgh Penguins on February 7 despite the fact that neither Sidney Crosby nor Evgeni Malkin suited up for Pittsburgh that night.
In his two seasons behind the bench, Laviolette guided the Rangers to a 94-59-11 regular-season record (.607 points percentage) and 10-6 postseason record (.625).
Laviolette and Washington parted ways in 2023 after the team went 35-37-10 (.488) and missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2014 that year.
The Capitals went 115-78-27 (.584) in the regular season under Laviolette for three seasons from 2020-23. They fell in the first round, going 3-8 (.375), in both of his first two seasons as head coach.
In 1594 career regular-season games as an NHL head coach with New York, Washington, the New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers, and Nashville Predators, Laviolette’s teams are 846-562-161 (.589). They are also 88-82 (.518) in the postseason. Laviolette led Carolina to their lone Stanley Cup Championship in 2006. He also took Philadelphia (2010) and Nashville (2017) to a Stanley Cup Final, losing in six games each time.
In 2006, Laviolette was named the head coach of the USA Men’s Olympic team, and in 2020, he was named the head coach for the USA during the Men’s World Championships.
The Anaheim Ducks also fired head coach Greg Cronin on Saturday after the team failed to make the postseason for the seventh consecutive season.
