Gerard Gallant is out as coach of the New York Rangers after two seasons, the team announced on Saturday.
The Rangers (47-22-13) lost 4-0 to the New Jersey Devils in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Prudential Center on Monday. They had a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series, but lost four of the next five games, scoring two goals in the four losses.
No replacement was named.
"I want to first thank Gerard for his work and commitment to the Rangers during his time as head coach," Rangers general manager Chris Drury said. "I have a ton of respect for Gerard as both a coach and a person, and truly appreciate everything he did for us on and off the ice these last two seasons. After my evaluation of the season and discussions with Gerard, we mutually came to the conclusion that a change would be beneficial for both parties. I wish he and his family all the best in the future. Our search for a new head coach will begin right away."
Gallant thanked the Rangers, owner James Dolan and Drury for the opportunity to be New York's coach the past two seasons in a statement released by the team.
"The experience of coaching an Original Six franchise with such rich history and an incredibly passionate fanbase is something I will never forget," he said. "After conversations with my family and Chris, it became clear that this was the right decision for both myself and the Rangers at this time."
Drury said he has no specific timetable in mind for a decision to hire Gallant's replacement. He said he's looking at all different types of candidates and won't limit the start of the search to any specific type of coaching style or experience.
"It's obviously pretty early in the process but we're looking at a lot of different things," Drury said. "We're still going to evaluate what went on this season, what I think we need to work on to get better, and hopefully have a good, long, robust list of candidates to interview."
The decision to move on from Gallant comes after Drury met with all the players in their exit interviews Wednesday. Gallant was not a part of those meetings, but he wasn't a part of the exit meetings with the players last year either, he said Wednesday.
Drury said the players are not absolved of blame for what went wrong against the Devils.
"We win as a team and lose as a team," he said. "We're all disappointed we're not still playing. I think if I could reference the exit meetings the good thing is no one wants to be left off the hook. Everyone throughout this last week has taken a good, long, hard look in the mirror and is using [it] as motivation and a learning experience for us to have a great summer individually and collectively and be ready to get back at it next September."
Gallant's departure comes after the Rangers went all in before the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline, acquiring forwards Vladimir Tarasenko, Patrick Kane and Tyler Motte, and defenseman Niko Mikkola with the hopes of making a Stanley Cup run this season.
They reached the Eastern Conference Final before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games last season, Gallant's first behind New York's bench, and entered this season with higher expectations that were raised before the deadline because of the trade acquisitions, particularly Tarasenko and Kane.
But they could not advance past the first round after winning Games 1 and 2 by identical 5-1 scores at Prudential Center. They lost Games 3 and 4 at Madison Square Garden, 2-1 in overtime and 3-1, respectively.
Gallant was heavily critical of the team after Game 4, twice calling them out for laziness, but the Rangers did not respond in Game 5 at Prudential Center, losing 4-0. They forced a Game 7 by winning 5-2 in Game 6 at Madison Square Garden, but then were shut out again in Game 7.
Then, on Wednesday as he met the media for the final time this season, Gallant bristled at the notion that his job could or should be in jeopardy, while admitting he had not yet spoken to Drury.
"I think we averaged 108 points in two years, I think that was excellent," he said. "We had a great first season. We lost to the Stanley Cup defending champions in the semifinals. This year we lost in the first round. Did I have a tough two weeks? Did we have a tough two weeks? Yeah. But besides that I can't believe I have to answer some of these questions about me getting let go, getting fired, brought up by the media. Disappointing."
Drury said he would not discuss the conversations he had with Gallant after conducting the exit interviews with the players Wednesday.
"As I've said, we talked a number of times since the loss in Game 7 and this is just where he and I this week mutually agreed that this was the best course of action," Drury said.
In two seasons under Gallant the Rangers went 99-46-19 for a .662 points percentage. In that time, they were fifth in the NHL in points percentage and tied for sixth in wins with the Edmonton Oilers and Minnesota Wild.
Gallant was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as the top coach in the NHL last season.
The Rangers were 13-14 in the playoffs under Gallant but had a 2-0 lead in each of their last two series -- against the Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final last season and against the Devils in the first round this season -- and did not win either series.
"I'm coming in here after what I think are two excellent years," Gallant said on Wednesday. "We had one bad week that cost us. If I can't stand by my record, what I've done, I think there's something wrong. I think it's pretty good. And not just the record here, the record moving forward."
Gallant is 369-262-70 with four ties in 705 regular-season games with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights and Rangers. He is also 31-29 in the playoffs, including a run to the Stanley Cup Final with Vegas in 2018, when he won the Jack Adams Award.
Gallant is the fifth coach to be let go since the regular season ended, following Daryl Sutter (Calgary Flames), Dallas Eakins (Anaheim Ducks), Peter Laviolette (Washington Capitals) and Brad Larsen (Columbus Blue Jackets.
"You look at the success we've had, he's obviously been good," Rangers defenseman Adam Fox said Wednesday. "Every coach has their own style. I think guys obviously have a lot of respect for him and we've had success. It's tough when you come up short, but I think we've had some good years with him."
A decision on the future of Rangers assistant coaches Mike Kelly, Gord Murphy or Jim Midgley will be made in the coming days.
"It's my job to make these calls and to take a look at how we can do things better," Drury said.
