NY Rangers Hire Ex-Capitals Head Coach Peter Laviolette

The New York Rangers are hiring Peter Laviolette as their next head coach, the team announced Tuesday. He agreed to a three-year deal with New York, sources told ESPN.

Laviolette, 58, has coached 21 years in the NHL and was most recently with the Rangers' division-rival Washington Capitals last season. The Capitals did not renew Laviolette's contract after they missed the playoffs.

The Rangers will be the fifth team Laviolette will have coached in the Metropolitan Division; he also had stints with the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers.

With 752 career victories, Laviolette is the eighth-winningest coach in NHL history and has the most wins of any American-born coach. He coached Carolina to the Stanley Cup in 2006 and has taken two other teams to the finals: Philadelphia in 2010 and Nashville in 2017.

The Rangers parted with Gerard Gallant after a first-round loss to the New Jersey Devils in May. Gallant had led the Rangers to the Eastern Conference finals in 2022. Gallant was under contract through the 2024-25 season.

The Rangers let go of most of their assistant coaching staff -- keeping on longtime goalie coach Benoit Allaire -- so Laviolette and GM Chris Drury will now fill those positions, sources said.