Contrary to popular belief, Gallant isn't a great coach. Or should i say, the actual coaching part of it is lacking. He's a great guy though and players like him. But he's sort of a one-trick pony coach' edition.
He lets the players play. He gets them competing which works particularly well when the team already has a chip on their shoulder. He wants his team to attack which is fun.
But when it comes down to adjustments, strategies, shaking lines and all that, i don't feel like he has much to offer. You'll be hearing a lot of "just work hard and compete hard" as tonight's gameplan, or "we don't really worry about them we worry about us". As soon as he finds his lines he's going to stick to them as much as possible. Which again is good for guys to gain chemistry, but when there comes a time things don't work.. we'll, just work harder.
Basically there's a good chance a team like the Rangers would enjoy playing for him. Guys likely perform well individually. Players enjoy playing and you'll see their confidence as a group grow. But unless they win the cup, someone in the playoffs can put a dent in that and once someone has the upper hand it's pretty much over.
There's been a notable difference in Vegas since they got DeBoer, who is more tactically adept and has more depth to his message depending on the situation. Since the magical first season, they were very inconsistent under Gallant and lost a lot of games to teams they should not have as the message got a bit stale. Panthers had the same feel with them following that division title season.
DeBoer's record in the regular season with this team is 56-19-4 and they've been extremely consistent mostly without any extra motivating factors, minus the short time after last years coaching change. They feel like a more mature and reliable hockey team, in this years series against the Avs who kicked their asses a couple times, we always saw subtle adjustments and tactical changes how to do better against a team that was visibly stronger. If i think back to the SCF series vs Washington, i didn't think much was happening to try and turn the tides after it was clear "our game" wasn't going to get it done.
So yeah, that's my personal opinion at least based on what i've seen. Im not saying it's a bad hire. Probably what the Rangers want right now is to catch lightning in a bottle. And some guys can gain confidence on a personal level which only helps their careers. I'd be expecting a fun first year, maybe two, but unless he's evolved as a coach, i wouldn't expect him to work out as a long-term.