Having graded all the players, it’s time to shift our 2024-2025 report cards to the coaching staff and front office, our final two report cards. The 2024-2025 Rangers coaching staff came into the season with high hopes, but those hopes quickly went from Cup contender to “I didn’t sign up for this.” Last season was a tale of two different roles for the coaching staff: Managing the team on the ice, and trying to maintain order off the ice. While not without fault, not much of last season’s train wreck could have been fixed with a different coach.

On the ice, results were mixed

On the ice, the Rangers started the season strong. That strong start was probably the only thing that held this fragile group together, but it was short lived. Despite everything humming along, Peter Laviolette forced a still injured Ryan Lindgren–who was still eating meals through a straw–back into the lineup in his usual top pair spot. This was a slap in the face to K’Andre Miller and Zac Jones in particular, who had strong starts but were relegated to previous roles that didn’t fit their skills, or worse.

With Lindgren back alongside Adam Fox, the top pair went from a dominating force of Miller-Fox to Fox barely able to drag along Lindgren’s corpse. Miller was moved back alongside Jacob Trouba, miscast as a shutdown pair. Zac Jones was shifted out of the lineup after the roster shakeup in November. But even before that shakeup, the damage was done. Forcing Lindgren into the lineup may not have been the catalyst to their demise, but it certainly didn’t help at all.

Another big issue with the 2024-2025 Rangers coaching staff came at the end of the season when it was clear the Rangers were no longer a playoff team. There was an opportunity to give some kids, specifically Gabe Perreault, significant ice time to get their first taste of NHL life. Instead Perreault was healthy scratched without a real reason given. Perreault wasn’t perfect, but there was likely more value in playing him instead of sitting him.

Scratching Perreault seemed to fall in line with prior decisions to scratch Kaapo Kakko, one of the only forwards pulling his weight, earlier in the season. Kakko was going to get traded regardless, but that was horrible personnel management.

The personnel management was bad. The powerplay was bad. The defense was bad. The offense was bad. The overall 5v5 systems were bad. But the penalty kill was good!

Off the ice, only so much they could do

Laviolette did not send the midseason memo. Laviolette did not mismanage the players in the offseason, leading to a borderline mutiny by 40% of the leadership group. There’s a strong case that a good portion of last season’s train wreck was not Laviolette’s doing. He didn’t help his own cause, but he didn’t sign up for a mutiny. He signed up to get the Rangers to a Cup. That wasn’t happening with all the off ice drama.

By the time the November roster shakeup happened, there was very little Laviolette and company could do. The Rangers were on cruise control heading into a ditch on the side of the road. The steering wheel was locked and all the coaching staff could do was put their seatbelts on and hope they survived. Only Jeff Malcolm remains with the Rangers, though the assistants all landed on their feet elsewhere.

None of this drama was on the coaching staff. There was nothing they could do. However the personnel decisions and the lack of adjustments in lineups, matchups, and even systems tweaks were on them. The only reason why they don’t get a colossal F is because we don’t know what this team could have done if Chris Drury managed the summer better.

2024-2025 Rangers coaching staff report card grade: D

More About: