Rangers, Gallant agree to part ways

The New York Rangers and Gerard Gallant agreed to end his tenure as head coach, the club announced Saturday.

Gallant and general manager Chris Drury reportedly had a heated exchange following the Rangers' Game 4 loss to the Devils in the first-round matchup that New Jersey ultimately won in seven.

On Wednesday, the 59-year-old scoffed at questions about his future with the team and defended his record, chalking the early exit up to one lackluster series.

"Did we have a tough two weeks? Yeah. But besides that, I can't believe I have to answer some of these questions about me getting let go or getting fired (that were) brought up by the media," he said at the time. "Disappointing."

Gallant coached the Rangers for two seasons. In 2021-22, he guided them to the Eastern Conference Final, which they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six. Drury loaded up at this season's trade deadline, acquiring forwards Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane in separate deals.

The GM said Saturday that he isn't going to limit his search to any specific style or type of coach and is "just looking for the right fit."

The Prince Edward Island-born bench boss coached the Vegas Golden Knights for most of their first three campaigns, helping them reach the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season of 2017-18. The Golden Knights fired Gallant in January 2020, replacing him with Pete DeBoer.

New York hired Gallant in June 2021. He led the team to a 99-46-19 record.

Before joining Vegas, Gallant served as head coach of the Florida Panthers and Columbus Blue Jackets.

All three Jack Adams Award finalists from 2021-22 are no longer with the clubs they coached at the time. In addition to Gallant, the Calgary Flames fired Darryl Sutter earlier this week and Paul Maurice replaced Andrew Brunette with the Panthers last June.

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