The New York Rangers have parted ways with head coach Peter Laviolette, the team announced Saturday, following a season that saw the club fall short of expectations and miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs. No replacement has been named, and associate coach Phil Housley was also relieved of his duties.
Laviolette, who was hired on June 13, 2023, coached the Rangers for two seasons, compiling a 94-59-11 record. Despite winning the Presidents’ Trophy and reaching the Eastern Conference Final in his first year, the team regressed significantly in 2024–25, finishing with a 39-36-7 record and missing the postseason.
New York became the fourth team in NHL history to miss the playoffs the year after winning the Presidents’ Trophy, joining the 2014–15 Boston Bruins, 2007–08 Buffalo Sabres, and 1992–93 Rangers.
Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury said during a conference call:
“Quite simply, we fell short across the board. Nobody here takes it lightly. We know our fans are frustrated and they deserve a better season than this. It starts with me.”
When asked whether he had received assurances about his own job security from team owner James Dolan, Drury declined to comment directly.
“I’m not going to get into personal private conversations I have with Mr. D. I can tell you my focus is on doing what I think is right to make this organization better. We’re obviously all frustrated and disappointed with how things ended and not being in the playoffs. My focus is on doing everything I can to make sure we’re a playoff team next year.”
The team’s decline from last season’s 55-win, 114-point performance to this year’s playoff absence was marked by inconsistency and offensive struggles. The Rangers were eliminated from playoff contention on April 12 following a 7–3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. They finished fifth in the Metropolitan Division, six points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the final wild card berth in the East.
The team’s power play dropped to 28th in the NHL at 17.6%, including just 10.8% over the final 30 games—down significantly from 26.4% the previous season.
While the Rangers led the league in comeback wins (28), they did not manage to win a game when trailing by two or more goals until April 14, when they overcame a 3–1 deficit to defeat the Florida Panthers 5–3.
After a strong 12-4-1 start, the Rangers hit a rough patch, going 4-15-0 from Nov. 21 to Dec. 30. Though they held a playoff position as late as March 15, a 4-8-1 stretch over their next 13 games sealed their fate.
A flurry of trades throughout the season also impacted team chemistry. Captain Jacob Trouba was traded to Anaheim on Dec. 6, and forward Kaapo Kakko was dealt to Seattle on Dec. 18 in exchange for defenseman Will Borgen, who signed a five-year, $20.5 million deal in January. The team also added forward J.T. Miller from Vancouver in a deal that sent Filip Chytil the other way. On March 1, the Rangers traded Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey to Colorado for defenseman Calvin de Haan, forward Juuso Parssinen, and two draft picks. They also acquired defenseman Carson Soucy from Vancouver on March 6.
Drury admitted that there’s plenty of changes to be made:
“There’s a lot of moving parts throughout any season and certainly this season had many moving parts. We’ve been looking at a lot of different things since training camp started with regards to the team, with regards to changes, personnel. Eyes wide open to try to figure this out and what this team will need moving forward.”
Drury said the team will conduct a broad coaching search and is open to hiring candidates without NHL head coaching experience.
“My eyes are wide open. I’m not going at this with any preset dispositions. If it’s a first-time coach and it’s the best fit, great. As far as what the team needs, we’re just trying to find the best fit we can to do what we need to do. Obviously, our goal is to try to be back in the playoffs next year. We’re looking at a lot of different scenarios and a lot of different candidates.”
Among the veteran coaches available are John Tortorella, Jay Woodcroft, and Joel Quenneville. Potential first-time candidates include David Carle (University of Denver), Jay Leach (Boston Bruins assistant), Nate Leaman (Providence College), and Jay Pandolfo (Boston University).
Drury emphasized that the organization will now shift focus to a full internal review.
“Certainly with the extra time of not being in the playoffs we’re going to continue to look up and down the roster, up and down the organization to see what we need to do to be back where we want to be next year. We’re going to look at every single aspect of this and certainly I’m always critical of myself and trying to figure out ways to be better. It starts with me and I will continue to do that.”
Drury is expected to hold one-on-one meetings with players on Monday as part of the evaluation process.
Laviolette, 60, previously coached the New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators, and Washington Capitals. He led the Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup title in 2006 and reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Flyers in 2010 and Predators in 2017.
His 846 regular-season wins are the most ever by a U.S.-born coach, ranking third among active coaches behind Paul Maurice (916) and Lindy Ruff (900), and seventh all-time.
Drury did have some props for Laviolette and associate coach Housely on the way out the door:
“I have a ton of respect for ‘Lavi’ and Phil. I played for ‘Lavi’ twice. I know how hard he worked and poured his heart and soul into this organization. I don’t have a Hall of Fame vote but I’m pretty sure he’s going to be a Hall of Fame coach someday. We all tried different things throughout the year and looked at different things and ways to spark the team, ways to try to get us more points, and it just didn’t come together. So, I’ll leave it at that.”
