driving Gerard Gallant uncertainty
Gerard Gallant’s ire in answering questions about his job security at Wednesday’s breakup day was understandable but misplaced.
For the rampant speculation that the Rangers might make a coaching change in the wake of their first-round, seven-game defeat to the Devils would stop in an instant upon a signal — not even a statement — from the organization that Gallant will indeed and of course be behind the bench next season.
Instead, crickets.
The only deduction to be made is that a decision is pending, whether that is or is not fair to Gallant after steering the club to 110- and 107-point seasons that features last year’s run to the conference finals.
The pool of potential replacements appears shallow. A year ago, Barry Trotz, Paul Maurice, Bruce Cassidy, Pete DeBoer, Rick Tocchet and John Tortorella would have been available. Now, not one of them is. Who’s out there, Peter Laviolette, whose teams in Nashville and Washington have failed to win a playoff round since 2018?
That might be giving pause to president-general manager Chris Drury and to Garden chairman Jim Dolan as the hierarchy processes this early elimination.
Darryl Sutter, dismissed by Calgary, has been floated to me as a potential replacement by an individual who has a pretty good track record, but why on earth would the Rangers hire a coach who alienated a portion of the roster while unable to get the Flames to the playoffs after entering the season as an expected contender?
Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant speaks to reporters on May 3, 2023. Robert Sabo for the NY Post
Joel Quenneville, under unofficial and open-ended suspension by Gary Bettman since late October 2021 for his failure to act responsibly as head coach of the Blackhawks in connection with the Kyle Beach sexual assault case, is a different matter.
The Rangers would have to ask the commissioner for permission to speak with the three-time Cup winner, who has taken steps out of the public eye to educate and rehabilitate himself. It is unknown whether a) the franchise has reached out to Bettman, and b) Quenneville has been cleared by the league.
There would be a massive PR blowback if the Blueshirts were to hire Quenneville, who would immediately become the lightning rod public face of the franchise. That surely would be a consideration the Rangers would have to take into account even if the controversy would likely fade.
Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury. NHLI via Getty Images
If cleared, it might serve both Quenneville’s and the league’s interests for him to return in a lower-profile setting, such as Columbus or Anaheim. Both have vacancies behind the bench.
This is the landscape on this third day of silence from the Rangers’ hierarchy that has the power to end all speculation about Gallant’s status but has opted not to do so.
Source: New York Post
