Who Do You Want to be the Next Head Coach of the NY Rangers?

[Boris Zubov]

He most likely will stay in west due to family. He’s a Family Guy

I agree, since he's a Western Canadian boy. However, he might consider one last pay day before calling it quits.

 

[Tob]

Larry and mollie need to suck on a turd. They drum up this fake narrative that Sullivan who was extended for huge money according to Friedman by the new owners there and retained despite GMs being fired and is helping with GM search is somehow a candidate. Then reach out to do a story with Sully.

 

[duhmetreE]

this paragraph from the Brooks article yesterday

These NHL playoffs show recycled coach like Peter Laviolette could be Rangers’ best bet

None of us truly endorses the concept of recycling coaches. Everyone wants someone fresh. Every organization wants to find its own Jon Cooper or Rod Brind’Amour. Every franchise craves stability.

nypost.com

This is an indictment on Drury. He hired Gallant. These people have more Information than the general public.

I was watching a YouTube interview with Eric Francis from a few days ago. He mentioned Gallant as a possibility in Calgary.

"He needs a coach who has the technical ability to help this veteran team take the next step in the playoffs when matching and strategic adjustments become paramount while treating the players in the same empowering and professional manner that marked Gallant’s tenure. Our understanding is that players were asking for help during exit interviews."

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

FWIW, I think it's going to be Keefe if he's let go by Toronto.

If not, it'll be Leach or (puke) Laviolette. Don't really see any other options on the board that make sense or are willing to come here.

Wouldn't mind Knoblauch as an AC with Leach. I'd hope that they allow him to hire his own defensive assistant. Gord Murphy does nothing for me.

 

[duhmetreE]

Just realized Leach coached under Sullivan in the AHL. He's at the top probably. Leading, communicating and teaching/developing are the words I keep reading.

Theoretically speaking, say it's Leach or even Knoblauch. Who's the vet assistant to help them through? Would Boudreau look to coach the offense as an assistant?

 

[haveandare]

Knoblauch or Brunette, I’d be happy with either. Neither is a retread but they’ve both been around the block enough that you can have reasonable confidence in them being an effective HC.

Vince’s article sure makes it sound like Knoblauch is exactly what we need. Brunettes results speak for themselves.

Sutter, Laviolette, Babcock etc and I suddenly care a lot less about folllowing next season closely. NJ has taken off with Ruff though and he’s as boring a retread as possible for you never know, but those guys would make me very, very skeptical

 

[Ruggs225]

Is Kris Knoblauch a viable candidate to be the next NY Rangers coach?

Players, coaches and executives who have worked closely with Kris Knoblauch weighed in on the emerging AHL Hartford coach.

www.lohud.com

I know its a fluff piece, but man reading that impresses me… thats like the anti gallant which is exactly what the team needs.

Still want Brunnette but that doesnt look to be happening. So Knobby would seem to be a great alternative.

 

[I Eat Crow]

Just realized Leach coached under Sullivan in the AHL. He's at the top probably. Leading, communicating and teaching/developing are the words I keep reading.

Theoretically speaking, say it's Leach or even Knoblauch. Who's the vet assistant to help them through? Would Boudreau look to coach the offense as an assistant?

Boudreau for offense and Jacques Martin part deux for defense would be excellent in this scenario.

 

[duhmetreE]

Boudreau for offense and Jacques Martin part deux for defense would be excellent in this scenario.

I still dont understand why they got rid of Martin. We went from absolute dog shite to respectable in the one season he took over.

 

[17futurecap]

 

[NYR94]

On the 32 Thoughts podcast Elliotte Friedman mentioned Peter Laviolette being in a good spot right now with supposed interest in him from the Rangers and Blue Jackets.

 

[bobbop]

Answering two questions addressed to me above:

How do you measure a coach's effectiveness? Well, the bottom line is that it is, for better or worse, a results driven industry and the benchmark is winning. It doesn't matter how he handles all the intangibles that are so important and contribute to his success, if he doesn't win, well, as the saying goes "managers or coaches are hired to be fired." The definition of winning is not precise however, is winning a Cup the only standard? Is it effectiveness doing the job he was hired to do? Renney: hired to restore stability and accountability. Very success, well, until he wasn't. Torts: hired to take us to the next level. Successful? Absolutely, until he wasn't. AV: hired to free the offense. Successful, yes, until he wasn't. DQ: hired to be a young coach on a young team. Successful: for me the jury is out as I don't condemn him as most do. GG: well, he was hired to brink veteran coaching ability and frankly to win a Cup. Was he a failure: in some ways no, he won certainly in the regular season but didn't accomplish the larger goal. Was he given enough time? Ah, that is the question. I'm not disappointed that he was fired. Interesting talking about Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, too. Both, long, long time coaches with enormously successful teams. The feeling was, well, maybe it's time for somebody younger. Neither ManU or Arsenal has had sustained success since they left and they have cycled through many managers. But the coaching carousel in the EPL spins much faster then in the NHL. No real answer to the asked question except to say that winning, whatever that means, is how coaches are judged. So someone who has been a team leader in another successful: my standard was creating an atmosphere where my team members could thrive and succeed. To set the overall strategy and goals of my team. To be there for my team. To make the "big" decisions when necessary. To handle conflict between team members and to shield them for interference from people higher than me on the leadership chain. But, I never had the every day pressure of "winning" on an everyday basis. There are so many ways to lead, all can work, all can fail. There is no one standard, except perhaps in sports, where winning trumps all.

Tom Webster: this is really a black hole period of Ranger history for me. I had a season ticket in the old blue seats from 1969-1976, then we moved to the far northern suburbs where it was simply to far to go to games especially in the winter. But, we lived in one of the first suburban areas to have cable and was able to get MSG. Then we moved further and for the first half of the 1980s, we did not have cable and I rarely saw the Rangers. Listened some on radio and followed tin the newspapers, but lacked the everyday involvement with the team. My impression is that there was something else going on with Webster besides the ear "situation" but I don't know.

Espo: I loved Espo as a player going back to the days when he single handedly willed Team Canada to victory over the Russians in 1972. I might have been the only Ranger fan who applauded him when the Bruins came to play after that series. I liked him as a Ranger also even though, like most, I had regrets about trading Park and Ratelle. His time as a GM was fun: he was fantasy hockey before it truly existed. As a fan, you never knew, when you tuned into a game, whether he had made a trade, or two. Sometimes, I think, he traded for a player, traded him away, and then traded for him again, in the same season! Luckily, these boards didn't exist back then...they would have imploded. But, he left a god-awful mess behind. But, I think of those days with a smile on my face.

Tom Webster definitely had a medical issue. I don’t know if it was resolved by surgery or medication. We would see hI’m occasionally in Syracuse when he was scouting. Nice man

 

[kinger8998]

It SEEMS, accoriding to insider census, that the final 4 candidates may come down to Andrew Brunette, Jay Leach, Peter Laviolette and Kris Knoblaunch.

My heart wants Knoblaunch. My head says the Rangers, with Cup aspirations, will give Laviolette a 2-3 year run and hope that Knoblaunch remains with org as AHL head and likely has inside shot next go-round.

Drury likely, with Dolan as owner, has 1 last coach hire, especially with this window/core. If the next coach fails, Drury likely goes down with him. Doesn't strike me as a scenario in which he hires Knoblaunch, have never had a NHL HC gig, to be the basket in which he puts all his eggs.

 

[duhmetreE]

x

It SEEMS, accoriding to insider census, that the final 4 candidates may come down to Andrew Brunette, Jay Leach, Peter Laviolette and Kris Knoblaunch.

My heart wants Knoblaunch. My head says the Rangers, with Cup aspirations, will give Laviolette a 2-3 year run and hope that Knoblaunch remains with org as AHL head and likely has inside shot next go-round.

Drury likely, with Dolan as owner, has 1 last coach hire, especially with this window/core. If the next coach fails, Drury likely goes down with him. Doesn't strike me as a scenario in which he hires Knoblaunch, have never had a NHL HC gig, to be the basket in which he puts all his eggs.

Am I the only one who thinks Drury has free reign? He's Sather 2.0 in that regard.

As long as Dolan likes him, he's going to be here.

 

[kinger8998]

x

Am I the only one who thinks Drury has free reign? He's Sather 2.0 in that regard.

As long as Dolan likes him, he's going to be here.

I don't think so to be honest. I don't think Sather has ever really been "gone". Not GM anymore sure, but as long as he's in org, he's still the driving force.

I'm sure he's the one who orignally hired Drury to the org, even if it was Gorton who promoted him to AGM. Sather just stepped away from GM so that Gorton wouldn't be poached.

He only stepped down as President to get Davidson, who in turn was essentially bringing Panarin with him.

If Panarin wasn't targeted as a star by Dolan, and if Gorton wasn't going to be poached, the Rangers would still have GM and President Glen Sather, as he is the only one who has Dolans ear and the only one with "free reign".

I don't for a second believe that Drury WANTED Kane. But once it was known Kane was there, Dolan wanted him, and it was a move that was right up the alley of Sather, acquiring an older player past his prime (even with an injury.)

Sather still has the reigns.

 

[Mac n Gs]

Why do people keep suggesting Sutter? Numerous people have reported now that things were so bad behind the scenes at the end of the year in Calgary with how Sutter treated everyone that they’re not sure if teams want to go down this road. Vince mentioned it on last week’s podcast too and said he doesn’t think the Rangers will consider him. You just don’t win today with that type of personality in the room, and he’s had a bunch of laughable moments this year with some of the younger guys coming up. He’s great for structure, but he’s a complete dickhead of a human being. It’s not worth a one- or two-year bandaid that will just have us spinning our wheels again. Calgary actually seems like a great fit for Gallant since he’ll be hands off with the team there and let them run their room as they want; let them make Backlund captain and still have remnants of Sutter’s system there.

Mike Babcock. Some people/not everyone in the Rangers organization want to pursue Babcock. Teams call him to gauge his interest. Elliotte doesn’t think Babcock believes NY is the right situation for him.

Peter Laviolette is in a good position with the Rangers and Columbus apparently interested in him.

The Rangers didn't allow Ryan Martin to speak with the Penguins about their GM job. Make Martin the GM and Drury becomes president of hockey operations. Martin can't be worse than Drury.

32 Thoughts: The Podcast

Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.

www.sportsnet.ca

I’m not that high on Martin based on his track record in Detroit. He was their cap guy and signed a ton of bad contracts that they luckily got out of. He’s been better here, but it’s still mainly a mixed bag. Let him go if a team wants him. The guy to get if they’re going this route is Ryan Hardy. We’ve both mentioned him in the past. He built an absolute powerhouse for the Chicago Steel, and he’s gotten pro experience with Toronto lately. Brandon Pridham has been a super popular aGM name floating around, so maybe he can take over for Dubas if he doesn’t sign a new contract. Hire Hardy to be the GM and let Drury be PoHO. Hardy can work with Liley to rebuild our drafting and development strategies, of which Chicago’s been leading the pack.

 

[Machinehead]

Martin did a good job here, especially considering the roster we had at the time. I wanted to retain him on Gallant's staff.

We stink at 5v5 offense but our defensive metrics are passable for a team that doesn't have a ton of sustained possession. I attribute that to him working with this group.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Martin hasn't been hired anywhere since he was let go correct?

I dunno, guys who aren't particularly in high demand usually aren't for good reasons.

 

[Machinehead]

Martin hasn't been hired anywhere since he was let go correct?

I dunno, guys who aren't particularly in high demand usually aren't for good reasons.

He has an office job for the Kingston Frontenacs. That's close to home so maybe he just doesn't wanna be bothered at 70YO.

 

[haveandare]

I don't think so to be honest. I don't think Sather has ever really been "gone". Not GM anymore sure, but as long as he's in org, he's still the driving force.

I'm sure he's the one who orignally hired Drury to the org, even if it was Gorton who promoted him to AGM. Sather just stepped away from GM so that Gorton wouldn't be poached.

He only stepped down as President to get Davidson, who in turn was essentially bringing Panarin with him.

If Panarin wasn't targeted as a star by Dolan, and if Gorton wasn't going to be poached, the Rangers would still have GM and President Glen Sather, as he is the only one who has Dolans ear and the only one with "free reign".

I don't for a second believe that Drury WANTED Kane. But once it was known Kane was there, Dolan wanted him, and it was a move that was right up the alley of Sather, acquiring an older player past his prime (even with an injury.)

Sather still has the reigns.

Am I crazy or did most people here think the Kane deal was a no brainer for the cost at the time? Imo it’s entirely possible Drury wanted him, and it wasn’t a bad move without the benefit of hindsight. I think the Sather stuff is very overblown at this point. He’s a convenient scapegoat because it’s a neat place to put the blame for everything. I’d wager he’s collecting a check and doing very little these days.

 

[Mac n Gs]

Martin did a good job here, especially considering the roster we had at the time. I wanted to retain him on Gallant's staff.

We stink at 5v5 offense but our defensive metrics are passable for a team that doesn't have a ton of sustained possession. I attribute that to him working with this group.

We were discussing Ryan Martin, the Rangers assistant GM

I agree on Jacques Martin though. That was a solid hire at the time

 

[Synergy27]

I’m officially onboard the Leach train. Maybe just a hunch, but he feels like the right blend of skillset/not a retread/not a complete unknown risk.

 

[GENESISPuck94]

this paragraph from the Brooks article yesterday

These NHL playoffs show recycled coach like Peter Laviolette could be Rangers’ best bet

None of us truly endorses the concept of recycling coaches. Everyone wants someone fresh. Every organization wants to find its own Jon Cooper or Rod Brind’Amour. Every franchise craves stability.

nypost.com

This is an indictment on Drury. He hired Gallant. These people have more Information than the general public.

I was watching a YouTube interview with Eric Francis from a few days ago. He mentioned Gallant as a possibility in Calgary.

The veterans need to stop being the priority.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

The Rangers thing to do would be to hire Laviolette because he's their type of personality.

 

[McRanger92]

If they hire Laviolette they might as well sell the farm to win in the next 2 years because it’s never going to work otherwise. Leach and/or Knoblauch or bust