The 2020-21 NHL season was a disappointing one for New York Rangers fans. Finishing with a 27-23-6 record, the club missed the playoffs for the third time in four years. This all led to the eventual firing of head coach David Quinn and his three assistants as soon as the offseason began. Now, the Rangers are on the hunt for a new bench boss.
There are a few roads that New York can take to find their next head coach. However, Bovada has released odds that might give us a better indication as to who the organization is leaning towards.
At -150 odds, Gerard Gallant is the leading candidate to coach the New York Rangers next season. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, though. After all, the team’s general manager, Chris Drury, interviewed Gallant last week about the position before the coach had to board a plane to the IIHF World Championship.
The last time Gallant coached in the league was when he spent three seasons coaching the Las Vegas Golden Knights before being fired during the 2019-20 campaign. Nevertheless, Gallant has a pretty decent resume. He has a 270-216-55 all-time coaching record, which shows that he’s been able to ice some pretty competitive teams. He was also the recipient of the 2017-18 Jack Adams Award that’s given to the top coach in the league for that season.
Odds to Be Next New York Rangers Head Coach
Odds via Bovada as of Friday, May 21
- Gerard Gallant (-150)
- Bob Hartley (+500)
- Claude Julien (+500)
- Bruce Boudreau (+600)
- Rick Tocchet (+600)
- Patrick Roy (+600)
- John Tortorella (+2000)
Could Hartley Return to the NHL?
It’s been five seasons since Bob Hartley (+500) coached in the NHL. The 2014-15 Jack Adams winner has been spending his time recently as the head coach of Latvia’s national ice hockey team. So, could he return to the league to coach the New York Rangers?
Hartley has also accomplished a lot in his career, including winning the 2000-01 Stanley Cup as the coach of the Colorado Avalanche. He never made it that far again, but one Stanley Cup ring is a lot more than most coaches have. One thing that might give Hartley the edge is that Drury was actually a member of that championship-winning team, so the two already have a connection there. Sometimes that’s all it takes to give someone an advantage in the hiring process.
New York Rangers Odds: Reunion with Tortorella a Long Shot
While Bovada’s list has a lot of intriguing and accomplished names, such as Claude Julien (+500), Bruce Boudreau (+600) and Rick Tocchet (+600), no other name stands out more than John Tortorella (+2000). After all, the former Columbus Blue Jackets bench boss spent five seasons coaching the New York Rangers from 2008 to 2013. During that span, Tortorella was infamous for his spats with the media, however, that quickly led to him becoming a fan favorite.
Nevertheless, Tortorella has a stellar coaching record of his own. He’s a two-time Jack Adams winner and coached the Tampa Bay Lightning to a Stanley Cup victory in 2003-04. However, Tortorella does have a shelf life. Whenever he joins a new organization, there’s a lot of fanfare and usually good results. But after a few seasons, the team begins to stagnate and he wears out his welcome.
While it would be great to see him rejoin the Rangers, it’s a pretty big long shot and Drury just may not want to risk Tortorella negatively affecting the development of his players. Besides, the Rangers GM played under Tortorella in New York, so if anyone knows how he operates, it’s Drury.
