Just one year after winning the Presidents’ Trophy and advancing to the Eastern Conference Final, the New York Rangers have missed the playoffs, and now head coach Peter Laviolette’s job is in jeopardy.
“I think everything gets looked at when a year is not good like this,” Laviolette said (h/t Mollie Walker). “I’m not blind to anything. I love being here with these guys and the New York Rangers. It’s a year where everything went right to a year where things didn’t go right. When things don’t go right, I’m sure everything gets looked at. I’m not naive.”
The Blueshirts were eliminated from postseason contention on Saturday night following a 7-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, cementing their status as the fourth team in NHL history to win the Presidents’ Trophy one year and miss the Stanley Cup playoffs entirely the next. They went from a franchise-record 55 wins and 114 points in Laviolette’s first year to entering Monday night’s matchup with the Florida Panthers with just 81.
Their nosedive lacked any legitimate logic, as Laviolette has seemingly found himself without any answers in recent weeks. Following a 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 7, the veteran bench boss said he didn’t “have a message” for the team.
During Saturday’s loss to Carolina, ABC’s Leah Hextall — who was stationed between the benches — commented that the Rangers’ bench was “almost church-like” and that Laviolette hadn’t said “more than, probably, two words.”
It has certainly inscribed the writing on the wall that Laviolette’s job is in trouble, which would make him the third Rangers head coach to be fired in the last five years despite two trips to the conference final during that stretch.
“That being said, this is the place I want to be was New York City, the New York Rangers,” Laviolette said. “It’s a great organization, great city, great family. It’s just tough right now, everybody’s faced with disappointment. Everybody I just mentioned is faced with disappointment today and I get that. There’s always things that are looked at.”
