Rangers hire former Flyers boss Peter Laviolette as head coach

Despite being let go by the Washington Capitals in April, Peter Laviolette will remain a head coach in the Metropolitan Division.

The New York Rangers announced Tuesday they have hired the former Flyers head coach in the same capacity. Laviolette replaces Gerard Gallant, who was fired on May 8 after two seasons behind the Blueshirts’ bench. The Rangers will be the sixth NHL team Laviolette has coached during his 21-year career. Laviolette, who becomes the 37th coach in Rangers history, will be coaching his fifth team in the Metropolitan Division, which has eight clubs.

“We are thrilled that Peter will be the next head coach of the New York Rangers,” Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury said. “With Peter’s extensive experience as a head coach in the National Hockey League, as well as the success his teams have had at several levels throughout his career, we are excited about what the future holds with him leading our team.”

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The 58-year-old, who has coached the New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes, Flyers, Nashville Predators, and Capitals, takes over a Rangers team that finished third in the Metro last season and was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the New Jersey Devils.

He inherits a talented roster led by the likes of forwards Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad, defensemen Adam Fox and K’Andre Miller, and former Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Igor Shesterkin. In 2021-22, the Rangers fell two games short of reaching their first Stanley Cup Final since 2014.

Laviolette ranks eighth on the NHL’s all-time coaching wins list with 752 and has the most wins of any American-born coach. He is likely to pass the legendary Al Arbour (782 wins) next season to move into seventh place. In 1,430 career games, Laviolette has amassed a record of 752 wins, 503 losses, 25 ties, and 150 overtime losses (.587 points percentage). He won the Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2006 and has led three teams to the Final (Hurricanes, Flyers, Predators).

Laviolette coached the Flyers from 2009-13, taking over for John Stevens on Dec. 4, 2009. In his first season, he led the team to a surprising run to the Stanley Cup Final as a No. 7 seed. In the process, the Flyers overcame a 3-0 series lead in the second round to Boston before losing in six games in the Cup Final to the Chicago Blackhawks.

As coach of the Flyers, Laviolette’s teams made the playoffs and advanced to the second round in each of the next two seasons but never reached the same heights as 2009-10. After missing the playoffs in 2012-13, and an 0-3 start the following season, Laviolette was fired by then-Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren on Oct. 7, 2013. Laviolette was 145-98-29 (.586) during his time in Philadelphia.

The Massachusetts native coached the Capitals for the last three seasons. The Capitals suffered first-round playoff exits in each of Laviolette’s first two seasons before missing the playoffs this past season for the first time in eight years. He was 115-78-27 (.584) with Washington.

Laviolette also has extensive experience coaching at the international level. He served as head coach for Team USA at the 2006 Olympics in Turin and has taken charge of the U.S. team at four World Championships.

The Rangers job is a bit of a full-circle moment for Laviolette, who played 12 games for the Rangers as a defenseman during the 1988-89 season.