SportsBetting.ag has Gerard Gallant as a 5/2 favorite to get the Blueshirts coaching gig. That is followed up by Bob Hartley at 7/2 and Bruce Boudreau at 5/1. Oddly enough, John Tortorella comes in fourth at 7 to 1 odds. Gerard Gallant 5/2 Bob Hartley 7/2 Bruce Boudreau 5/1 John Tortorella 7/1 Claude Julien 8/1 Patrick Roy 9/1 Kris Knoblauch 10/1 Lane Lambert 12/1 Mark Messier 12/1 Mike Babcock 12/1 Rick Tocchet 12/1 Joel Bouchard 18/1 Rod Brind’Amour 25/1
If drury doesn’t wait to at least see if brindamour is gonna be free he’ll be committing malpractice e
Who the hell is lane lambert? Bouchard is an interesting choice. Lambert is actually interesting choice. Been around as an assistant coach. Actually played for the rangers lol for a whopping 18 games in the 80th. No wonder I don’t know him.
Gallant – still believe he is the best match. The Vegas cup team was a lot of fun to watch while playing balanced hockey. He runs a good system that emphasizes forecheck pressure and allows for offensive creativity, and can run both man and zone looks defensively. I think we have the skaters and the hockey IQ on the blue line to pull that off. He also has a reputation of having good player relationships - the guy I know that played for him had nothing but good things to say. The firing in Vegas is still odd but Im not holding that against him. Hartley – If Drury didn’t win a cup with him 20 fkn years ago are we even talking about him? That's ancient history at this point. He hasn’t coached in 5 years, in his last 8 seasons coaching he missed the playoffs in 6 of them and never made it farther than the second round. Not a players coach at all. Don’t think we need a dinosaur who has been out the NHL game that long. Boudreau – Please no. Cannot stare at that red face as we win every game 5-4 then get run out of the building in the first round. Tortorella – Please, please, please no. Julien – I like Julien a lot but more I think about it not sure we have the personnel for his style right now. Plays much more conservatively offensively but ultimately wants to wear other teams down. If he doesn’t have his personnel it simply does not work – see Montreal. It was brutal for him there. We’ll need some more significant roster work if he’s the guy, and I'm not sure that is what Dolan has in mind. But if we can match the personnel he needs, he would be great. Roy – psycho. Knoblauch – Hes earned the right to be seriously considered and should get an interview, that much is clear. Drury picked him to run the Pack in the first place so he might even have an inside track. But there is too much chatter about wanting a coach with NHL experience to think this is the direction they will go. Messier – won’t happen. Babcock – As I said before, probably the best hockey mind on this list but there are serious red flags about his personality and coaching style. When you have guys like Chris Chelios all but declaring him mentally abusive there is something wrong there. If he’s changed his ways he should get a look, but having such a young team makes me nervous. Tocchet – I havent watched AZ enough to figure out his system, but I generally like what they are doing there. Im surprised he isnt returning. Probably more of a safe choice with a higher floor but maybe a lower ceiling than a guy like Babcock or Julien. BrindAmour – If he’s available, back up the truck and pay the man whatever he wants. But CAR would have to be absolutely insane to let him go. Can’t see it happening, unless they get bounced early which we should all be pulling for.
good synopsis. I could get on board with Gallant. I like Babcock for the success he had previously, I don't know anything about the abusive behaviors though. Brind'Amour I couldn't agree with you more on. If he becomes available by some bizarre happenstance the Rangers have to do everything they can to bring him in. I just don't see how Carolina lets him go.
I would prefer Julien of the rumored group. As I mentioned previously, none of them really get me excited except Brind'Amour, and I don't see that happening unfortunately. If it were Gallant, I would be okay, but I would put him after Julien. I think Gallant has a good shot to get the job though. Interview setup already as well.
His Wikipedia has a pretty good summary of the 2 most high profile incidents that I remember. Chris Chelios was also on a podcast recently where he gave more details about it and it was bad. The Marner incident was a complete dick move and uncalled for. "Since his tenure with the Maple Leafs ended, Babcock has faced criticism for his management style and his treatment of his players. Johan Franzen, who played for Babcock in Detroit, praised Babcock's preparation and tactical acuity as a coach, but called him a "terrible man, the worst person I've ever met" and accused Babcock of verbally abusing him, which was corroborated by former teammate Chris Chelios. He was also accused of mistreating Mitch Marner during his rookie season, by asking him to rank his teammates in order of their work ethic and later sharing the list with the rest of the team. Babcock confirmed the incident after it was reported, expressing his regret and stating that he had apologized to Marner at the time." I also recall Shanahan saying not great things publicly about Babcock after he was let go, so I can only imagine what he thought about him privately. From an article at the time I just googled: Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan on Tuesday said Mike Babcock's coaching tactics were not "appropriate or acceptable," addressing allegations of mental abuse by the team's former coach for the first time. "Times are evolving. We have to evolve," Shanahan said at the NHL Board of Governors meeting. "We all came from a certain generation where things occurred to us as players that we just sort of accepted. We all have to do a better job of just creating that kind of work environment on the ice and off the ice." There's lots of smoke here. Can't deny his achievements and his success, but not sure he's the guy I want in charge of a young team.
What I read is any Babcock rumors are coming from his camp wanting to get him in the mix rather than the Rangers talking him up. I would be surprised if it turned out to be Babcock.
If not Knoblauch then I'm fine with Gallant. Brind'Amour would be my first choice. If the Canes go out early in the playoffs and goaltending is the issue, I would not be shocked to see Brind'Amour come to NY
Good quick interview with Gallant on the recent Tom Wilson fiasco - probably a bit of pandering knowing the Ranger job might open up, but still gives some good insight into his personality and philosophy.
I think Gallant is the best option, he took a team of draft picks to the Cup suggests he relates to the players and if Drury is looking for experience he'd be my choice. We all went into the season agreeing that the Rangers were too soft so the bullying that went on throughout the season shouldn't have come as a surprise, it was the lack of action to address the situation that was puzzling. Finding a quality #2 C is tricky but picking up an oversized, physical goon easy. Even if Quinn snuck the Rangers into the playoffs their personnel was not suited for the physicality of playoff hockey, I think cleaning house was a smart move by CD, he's in a prime position to have a perennial playoff team. My biggest concerns offseason are trading for a guy with a neck injury that couldn't be rehabbed and resigning a soft Swede who's cool with his teammate being pummeled - unacceptable for a team claiming to be getting gritty. If Mika has another slow start how can CD resign him for $10 mil?
Outside of Panarin, Zibanejad is the Rangers best offensive player. If you think trading for a #2C is tricky, try not signing Zib to extension and see about bringing in a #1C.
Zib leaves a lot to be desired as a leader, but as a center he would be very difficult to replace. He’s our best center in all 3 zones and were it not for covid hes among the league leaders in points. As I’ve said before, replacing him with a one dimensional player like Eichel opens up significant holes that would take further moves to address. I’m looking to extend Zib, 5 yr under 9m if he loves NY as much as he says he does, and upgrading the 2C spot.
Agree 100%. The time to sell high on Strome is now. Sucks. He's a great team guy. He's played really well here. However, faceoffs are an enormous problem for this team and have lost us a ton of games in the division. Vancouver has nothing on the right side defenseman wise. They suck with depth. Horvat is obtainable. They probably will be asking for Lundkvist. Tough to give him up. However, if I could package Strome with Lundkvist and get Horvat and their first rounder this year, I'd strongly consider it. Though, I don't see them doing that. I see them playing Lundkvist for a full season, hyping his value up even more. I suspect they would try something like Strome, Jones, Blackwell and Skinner for Horvat. Strome - Horvat is much closer than it was. Other than faceoffs, it's close. Jones is pretty highly regarded around the league. Skinner has nice upside. They might want Hajek instead of Jones. I think a deal is there to be had. After the expansion draft I'm going for Jenner. Even if he's on Seattle. He's the guy I'm locking in on as our 4th line center. I loved what I saw from Richards in the game he played. Lucic at half retained is a simple get IMO. A 4th line of Richards-Jenner-Lucic is alright with me.
I would sign on for 5y/8.5m for Zib. He is a reluctant leader, does not like the spotlight as far as I can tell. And that's fine. But he needs to be way better on face-offs
