The New York Rangers made the move many expected on Saturday, firing head coach Peter Laviolette after two seasons leading this team. It was literally the polar opposites for the Rangers the past two seasons. The first season with Laviolette at the helm, they won the Presidents Trophy and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. This season, they didn't make the playoffs.
How does this impact the New Jersey Devils? The coach firing doesn't really impact them, especially with their focus on the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Carolina Hurricanes, but it will impact them down the line. Laviolette was always going to be a short-term head coach. They were hoping he could do something with the core of Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, and Mika Zibanejad while Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin were entering their primes.
However, the issue with the Rangers isn't exactly coaching. He wasn't a positive and probably deserved to be fired, but he wasn't why the Rangers went from top title contender to bottom of the barrel in one season.
Think about all the mess that was the Rangers this season, and think about the moves they made. They traded their captain Jacob Trouba when the team was starting to face some peril. That led to the Rangers going on one of the worst stretches of hockey by any team this season, which lasted through the middle of January. They also sold incredibly low on Kaapo Kakko, the former second-overall pick, and then sent what became their 2026 first-round pick to the Canucks for J.T. Miller.
Those weren't Peter Laviolette moves. Those were Chris Drury's moves. And as far as we know, Chris Drury is still in New York.
Chris Drury will ensure the Rangers stay on the downswing while the Devils have a chance to keep improving
The Rangers GM is now in charge of the most important Rangers offseason in years, possibly decades. Beyond the Panarin allegations that were first reported by The Athletic (subscription required), the Rangers have to figure out what to do with Zibanejad, Kreider, and K'Andre Miller. They want to get younger but don't want to come close to a rebuild.
The Rangers probably got all their free passes out of the way. The Ducks actually gave up assets to take on Trouba's entire contract. San Jose got the Rangers out of the Barclay Goodrow contract last offseason. However, these moves have really hurt the locker room and the trust of the players with management.
Drury is also in charge of hiring the next head coach. Will he make the right decision finally? One of his first moves was hiring Gerard Gallant, and that failed. Then, he hired Laviolette, and it again didn't work. Now, he's hiring head coach number three after his previous two hires lasted just two seasons.
He's shown no ability to hire a proper head coach, at least one that will last. He's making the decision again (at least, that's what we think).
Drury knows his job is on the line, and he doesn't have his 2026 first-round pick. We expect some desperation moves to bring bigger names to New York and remove some of their perceived dead weight. We've seen desperate GMs make moves that have a lasting impact on a franchise. The Rangers are eerily close to the situation blowing up, but they're also close to getting back into contention. Do we trust Drury to go in the right direction? Devils fans should be happy this guy is sticking around.