Rangers fire Head Coach Peter Laviolette after disastrous season — But is he really to blame?

Key Highlights:

• Laviolette fired after playoff miss
  
• Rangers suffer historic post-trophy collapse
• Drury's leadership faces growing criticism

In a move that’s more scapegoat than solution, the New York Rangers fired head coach Peter Laviolette on Saturday and with it, tried to wash their hands of one of the most embarrassing collapses in recent franchise history. After a record-setting 2022-23 season, the Rangers didn’t just miss the playoffs in 2024, they imploded. And rather than admit the problem runs deeper than the bench, GM Chris Drury seems content pinning it all on the coaching staff.


Is Laviolette the fall guy for front office failures?



Let’s call it what it is: the Rangers' issues didn’t start or end with Peter Laviolette. Yes, the team underperformed. Yes, their power play was abysmal. But to act like the man behind the bench is the root of the problem is a convenient narrative that protects the real culprits, the ones in suits, not skates.


Drury’s roster decisions were puzzling all season long. Trading captain Jacob Trouba mid-season raised eyebrows. Shipping off Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil while shuffling in new faces like J.T. Miller and Carson Soucy only added to the instability. And let’s not forget the March deadline moves that felt more like desperation than direction. The chemistry never clicked because the pieces kept changing and that’s not on Laviolette.


Rangers fire Head Coach, but front office missteps fuel deeper crisis


Worse yet, the Rangers are now part of a not-so-proud club, one of only four teams in NHL history to win the Presidents’ Trophy and miss the playoffs the very next season. That’s not just a stumble. That’s a structural failure.


Still, Drury insists his job is safe and that “it starts with me.” But if it truly started with him, he wouldn’t be dodging questions about ownership’s confidence. He wouldn’t be pushing the narrative that a new coach, whether it’s a recycled NHL name or an unproven college upstart, is the magic fix.


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And where does this leave the locker room? A rotating door of coaches, a confused roster, and now a fanbase expected to trust that the next hire will right the ship. The truth is, the Rangers' problems won’t be solved with a new face behind the bench. Until the front office owns up to its missteps, New York is chasing shadows.

The Rangers didn’t just fire Laviolette. They lit the fuse on a bigger crisis.