According to numerous press reports, Gerard Gallant has signed a four year contract to coach the New York Rangers. The story was first reported by Larry Brooks of the New York Post.
BREAKING: Rangers have reached agreement to hire Gerard Gallant as head coach, Post has learned.
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) June 14, 2021
The story was quickly confirmed by numerous other hockey reporters , but has yet to be announced by the team.
Gallant previously coached the Blue Jackets, Panthers and the Golden Knights and just returned from leading Team Canada to a gold medal at the World Championships.
He was the first person interviewed by General Manager Chris Drury after David Quinn and his staff were let go. Reportedly, Drury also spoke with Rick Tocchet, but there have been no other confirmed reports of other interviews. It appears that Gallant was on Drury’s radar from the beginning.
Gallant was a left winger who played 11 years in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning.
In his three prior coaching assignments, he served as coach for two full seasons, but was let go in the third. He led Florida and Vegas to first place finishes in their divisions and took the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018 where he lost to Barry Trotz and the Washington Capitals.
His most recent NHL coaching gig was with Vegas and he was fired 49 games in to the 2019-20 season in favor of Peter DeBoer. He has a record of 270 wins, 216 losses, four ties and 51 overtime losses in 541 games as coach.
There will be much more to discuss about Gallant once the announcement is official. There should be a press conference introducing him as coach in the next few days.