Gerard Gallant wants to get out of an elite coaches club

The hiring of Gerard Gallant as New York Rangers coach was uniformly praised around the NHL.  He’s a solid veteran coach who gets the most out of his players and is highly regarded for his work most recently with the Vegas Golden Knights.

He is inheriting a job with incredibly high expectations and how he responds to that challenge will be his measure of success, but more on that later.

He does belong to a select group of coaches, a group he would definitely like to get out of.

He is one of eight active NHL coaches who have coached over 500 games in the NHL and don’t have a Stanley Cup championship on their resumes.  After 541 games as an NHL coach, he has yet to get to the pinnacle.

Gallant is nowhere near the top of the list.  Here  is the select group:

1. Paul Maurice: 1,656 games
2. Lindy Ruff: 1,549 games
3. Alain Vigneault:  1,341 games
4. Dave Tippett:  1,241 games
5. Peter DeBoer:  933 games
6. Todd McLellan:  932 games
7. Rick Bowness:  556 games
8. Gerard Gallant:  541 games

The club

It’s pretty amazing that Winnipeg’s Paul Maurice has coached that many games without a Cup. His coaching career started in 1995 and he has made it to the Stanley Cup Final once, with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2002.  In the 16 years since that he has been an NHL  coach, he has made the playoffs only six times.

The Devils’ Lindy Ruff is another one who is resting on ancient laurels. In1999 he took the Buffalo Sabres to the Stanley Cup Final in his second year as a coach. In his 18 seasons as a coach since then, he has made the playoffs eight times and he hasn’t gotten as far as the Conference Finals since 2007.

Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault has had the most recent success, getting to the Final with the Rangers in 2014 and he is one of two coaches in the club who has gotten to the Final twice.

Edmonton’s Dave Tippett’s 1,241 games as coach is based on the fact that his teams (Dallas and Phoenix) made the playoffs nine times in his first 10 years as coach.  Since, then, he has coached and lost two playoff rounds in seven seasons.

Peter DeBoer replaced Gallant as coach of the Golden Knights two seasons ago and has a reputation as one of the best coaches in the NHL.  Much of that is due to the fact that in his first two trips to the playoffs, he took the Devils and Sharks to the Stanley Cup Final.  DeBoer might be getting ready to pack his suitcase.  His trips to the Final came in his first seasons with New Jersey and San Jose and he didn’t do the same with the Golden Knights.

The Kings’ Todd McLellan should top the 1,000 games coached mark this season. He’s another coach resting on ancient laurels.  He made the playoffs his first six years as a coach in the NHL.  In the seven years since, he has made the postseason once and he has never gotten to the Final.

Dallas coach Rick Bowness is safe in his job as he led the Stars to the Final just two seasons ago.  Still, he is another guy with a great reputation and not much to show for it. He first coached in the NHL in 1988 when he was 34.  In 11 seasons coaching Winnipeg, Boston, Ottawa, the Islanders, Phoenix and Dallas he has made the playoffs twice.

What about Gallant?

It’s been noted that Gallant has had three coaching jobs in the NHL and was fired in the third season of each of those gigs. The common belief is that his statute of limitations with any team he coaches is three years and that will apply to his time in New York. That  means he has until 2023-24 to win a Stanley Cup with the Rangers.

Gallant’s path to the Rangers has been a long one.  In his first coaching job, he never made the playoffs with the Blue Jackets, taking over the team in their fourth year after expansion. He really coached Columbus for one full season as he took over mid-season in his first year and lasted only 29 games into his third year.

It took him eight years to get another head coaching job in the NHL, with the Florida Panthers in 2014.  In his second season, he took them to a first place finish for the only time in franchise history.  They lost in the first round of the playoffs and just 22 games into his third season and despite a winning record, he was canned yet again.

After six years as an NHL coach and one lost playoff round, Gallant was given the thankless job of guiding the Vegas expansion team in its first season. In one of the greatest sports stories of the last decade, he led the team to a first place finish and a loss in the Stanley Cup Final.

Gallant belongs to a much less exclusive NHL coaches club that has 36 members.  Those are all of the coaches who have 500 games on their resumes without a Stanley Cup championship.  The Rangers’ coaches on the list include Vigneault (1,341 games), Roger Neilson (1,000 games), Michel Bergeron (792 games), Emile Francis (778 games), Tom Renney (592 games),  Herb Brooks (506 games) and Ron Low (505 games).

Does he have what it takes?

In looking at NHL coaches, does Gerard Gallant have what it takes to win?  Of the eight coaches in the 500 wins club, he has coached the fewest number of playoff games, 33 games in three trips to the postseason.  Even Bowness has more with 42 playoff games coached in his two trips to the playoffs.

That said, Gallant has never been blessed with a highly skilled hockey team.  Despite stints with a bad Blue Jackets squad, a young Panthers team and the collection of players George McPhee was able to put together in Vegas, Gallant’s teams have won 270 games out of 541.

Compare that with Mike Sullivan who has coached 589 games with the Penguins and Bruins. Despite having stars like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury and Kris Letang (and more) in his lineup, he has won 321 games, just 51 more than Gallant.  Of course has also won two Stanley Cups.

There is no doubt that with the New York Rangers,  Gallant has been presented with the most skilled set of players he has ever had a chance to coach.  For the Rangers, it’s not a matter of getting them overachieve, but to get them to play to their abilities.

Gallant did well in Florida and Vegas, but with teams that had far fewer expectations.  The challenge is how he does with a team with already high expectations.  In his last two coaching gigs, once there were high expectations, his teams fell short and it ultimately cost him those jobs.

He is taking over a team expected to contend for the playoffs in the biggest media market in the NHL.   Watching how he responds will be one of the great story lines in a season full of them.