The New York Rangers announced on Tuesday that they had hired Peter Laviolette as their new head coach. Laviolette joins the Rangers as a Stanley Cup winner and the eighth-winningest head coach in NHL history.
The Rangers previously parted ways with Gerard Gallant after suffering a disappointing first-round exit in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Laviolette was an obvious choice for the Rangers. He is one of the most experienced head coaches in the league, a proven winner, and has ties with the franchise. Laviolette made 12 appearances with the Rangers in the 1988–89 season, which ended up being his only NHL action as a professional player.
Peter Laviolette won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and made two more Stanley Cup Finals with the Philadelphia Flyers and the Nashville Predators. Laviolette has 752 career wins in 21 years as a head coach in NHL, which is the most all-time by an American-born coach.
Laviolette spent the past three seasons coaching the Washington Capitals. The franchise opted not to extend his contract following a disappointing 2022–23 campaign that saw the Capitals miss the playoffs for the first time in nine years.
“Peter’s impressive résumé, which includes winning a Stanley Cup and advancing to the final with three different teams, has made him one of the most respected coaches in the league,” said Rangers’ owner James Dolan in a statement. “As we move forward in our goal to consistently contend for the Stanley Cup, I am confident that Peter is the right head coach to lead our team.”
