After weeks of speculation, General Manager Chris Drury finally made the decision to cut Head Coach Peter Laviolette loose. As announced on Saturday, Laviolette is no longer with the New York Rangers. Associate head coach Phil Housley has also been terminated.
Originally undrafted by teams in the NHL, the former defenseman played a total of 12 games with the Rangers himself in the 1988–89 season. Laviolette also played for the United States in the Olympics twice in both 1988 and 1994. The Rangers began the season with a promising 12-4-1 start but have since spiraled to missing the postseason the year after winning the Presidents' Trophy and a disastrous 4-15-0 record tallied in November and December under Laviolette's charge.
Laviolette concludes his career with the New York Rangers while obtaining a 94-59-11 overall record. His firing comes just two days after the Blueshirts played their last game of the 2024-25 season — a 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. He had completed two seasons on the job and had one year remaining in his contract.
High-profile moves, such as trading Jacob Trouba to Anaheim and Kaapo Kakko to Seattle, and benching Chris Kreider, also failed to ignite the roster.
The Rangers players seemingly checked out on the 60-year-old head coach midway through the season and then again down the stretch when they were still within striking distance in the crowded Eastern Conference Wild Card race which obviously did not come to be.
Laviolette seemingly checked out himself — as he admitted to the media that he had no message for his team following a 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning during the season's final few games.
"I don't have a message right now. I don't go into the locker room after the game," Laviolette said.
He also questionably healthy-scratched young talents Brennan Othmann and Gabe Perreault while they were on the brink of elimination.
Laviolette also previously said he was not naive to the possibility of a job change.
"I think everything gets looked at when a year is not good like this. I’m not blind to anything. I love being here with these guys and the New York Rangers. It’s a year where everything went right to a year where things didn’t go right. When things don’t go right, I’m sure everything gets looked at. I’m not naive. That being said, this is the place I want to be was New York City, the New York Rangers. It’s a great organization, great city, great family ... It's just tough right now, everybody's faced with disappointment. Everybody I just mentioned is faced with disappointment today and I get that. There's always things that are looked at."Peter Laviolette, April 13th
Ultimately though, this move has been a long time coming. There are no major redeeming points of this Rangers' 39-36-7 season. The Rangers looked lost defensively at times and repeatedly failed to respond well to adversity.
Chris Drury also released a full statement on his latest coaching staff decision.
"[Saturday] I informed Peter Laviolette and Phil Housley that we're making a coaching change. I want to thank both of them and wish them and their families all the best moving 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 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."Rangers President/GM Chris Drury
Via Mollie Walker with the New York Post, Rangers assistants Dan Muse and Michael Peca will each have an opportunity to interview to be on the next coaching staff.