New York Rangers coaches since 2000 ranked worst to best

In his first season as New York Rangers coach, Peter Laviolette led the Blueshirt to the Presidents’ Trophy and Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final in 2023-24. Despite failing to lead the League’s best team in the regular season to a Stanley Cup championship, it was still a largely successful first season and a major upgrade over their first-round exit from the Stanley Cup Playoffs the year prior.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, success stories with their coaches are not easy to come by in the 21st century, as the past 24 years are littered with more misses than hits. That comes with the territory when you haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1994.

The Rangers have had 10 different coaches since 2000. Here’s a complete ranking from best to worst.

Related: Only 1 other coach topped Peter Laviolette in 1st season with Rangers

Ranking Rangers coaches in 21st century

There have been 23 NHL seasons played since the turn of the century, with the 2004-05 season canceled by a lockout. The Rangers have made the playoffs 15 times since 2000, reaching the Eastern Conference Final five times and the Stanley Cup Final once, in 2014. Eight times they failed to reach the postseason.

Let’s breakdown the work of the Rangers coaches since 2000.

10. Bryan Trottier — 2002-03, 54 games, .454 PTS%

Bryan Trottier isn’t just the worst Rangers coach since 2000 — he’s got a strong case for the worst coach in franchise history.

General manager Glen Sather’s hiring of the New York Islanders legend drew the ire of both Islanders and Rangers fans, the latter of which was further aggravated by the on-ice product.

Trottier was in over his head from the start, unprepared and uncomfortable in the role, and was fired after just 54 games in 2002-03 with the Blueshirts posting a 21-26-6-1 record in that span. Opting to play within a defensive-focused neutral zone trap that limited the team’s scoring capabilities, he limited the offensive potential of Hall of Famers like Mark Messier, Eric Lindros, and Pavel Bure.

Lindros went from scoring 37 goals under a full season with coach Ron Low the year before to just 15 in 54 games with Trottier.

The Rangers played above .500 in the final 28 games under Sather, who replaced Trottier as coach, but still finished under .500 and fourth in the division and out of the playoffs. It was a bold move entrusting the reigns to Trottier, not just a rival legend but someone who had never been an NHL head coach before and would never get the opportunity again. It ended up being one of the worst moves in franchise history.

9. John Muckler — 1998-2000, 185 games, .451 PTS%

John Muckler’s tenure marks the downturn of the Rangers in the late 90s and the beginning of one of the worst periods in recent franchise memory. Taking over for Colin Campbell in 1998, Muckler lasted two and a half seasons, never once posting a .500 record before being replaced by assistant John Tortorella for the final four games of the 1999-2000 season.

Muckler’s .451 points percentage is the lowest of any Rangers coach since 2000. After the Rangers were 8-15-2 with Muckler at the helm to close out the 1997-98 season, the Rangers finished fourth in the five-team Atlantic Division in back-to-back seasons, culminating in the coach’being fired, along with Stanley Cup-winning general manager Neil Smith.

Enjoying success with the Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres previously, Muckler was never able to translate it to a Rangers’ roster that had the highest payroll in the NHL and a number of big free-agent signings that didn’t quite pan out.

It’s likely not all the fault of the Stanley Cup champion that an aging roster failed to miss the playoffs in his two-and-a-half seasons, but it doesn’t change the fact that Muckler’s Rangers teams greatly underperformed expectations and simply were no good. Muckler never coached again in the NHL.

8. Glen Sather — 2003-04, 90 games, .467 PTS%

After failing to find the right fit with Trottier and Ron Low, Sather, who was the Rangers general manager, stepped into the coaching role himself, taking over for the fired Trottier and staying into the 2003-04 season before ultimately selecting Tom Renney as his replacement.

His success with the Wayne Gretzky-era Oilers, when he won four Stanley Cup championships as coach, didn’t carry over and despite finishing the first season with an 11-10-4-3 record after Trottier’s dismissal, the Blueshirts dipped back below .500 with Sather in 2003-04, playing to a 22-29-7-4 record in his 62 games as coach that season.

Sather’s stint as coach marked the end of the Rangers’ run with their aging core. In his role as GM, Sather traded away Rangers legend Brian Leetch, as well as big pieces like Alex Kovalev and Petr Nedved.

7. Ron Low — 2000-02, 164 games, .463 PTS%

Ron Low was the successor to Muckler, continuing a dark era of Rangers hockey as the Rangers finished fourth in the Atlantic twice more, missing the playoffs for the fourth and fifth straight seasons.

Low drew a resurgent 79-point season from the 32-year-old Leetch and got strong individual years from Theo Fleury, Nedved, and Lindros in his two seasons as coach, but it never reflected in a competitive record.

His 80-point season in 2001-02 ended up being the high point in the Blueshirts’ seven-year postseason drought that spanned from 1998-2004, so he settles in above Trottier, Muckler, and Sather, but it’s a low bar and not great company to keep. Just another former Oilers coach that faild on Broadway.

6. David Quinn — 2018-21, 208 games, .522 PTS%

David Quinn took over in the first full season following the release of The Letter by Sather, then team president, and GM Jeff Gorton, which informed fans about the Rangers intent to sell core pieces and begin a rebuild. Understandably, Quinn’s three seasons were rough since he bridged an ugly gap between the highly competitive mid-2010s teams and the current Rangers.

The Blueshirts finished seventh in the Metropolitan Division in his first two seasons, landing the No. 2 and No. 1 overall picks in consecutive seasons, despite showing real promise in 2019-20 and qualifying for the expanded 24-team postseason. A regression in 2020-21 led to his firing at the end of the season and concluded his Rangers tenure in dismal fashion.

Despite the lack of on-ice success from a team perspective, Quinn did facilitate important developments that paid dividends in future seasons.

Under Quinn, Adam Fox blossomed into a Norris Trophy-winning defenseman, and K’Andre Miller and Ryan Lindgren blossomed into core pieces. Igor Shesterkin took over as the No. 1 goalie, although the bulk of credit there goes to goaltender guru Benoit Allaire.

Mika Zibanejad enjoyed some excellent seasons under Quinn, who paired him with Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich to great success. Quinn also notably paired Fox and Lindgren together, which has become an effective staple of the Blueshirts backend to this day.

Quinn left plenty to be desired with his development of young forwards and outlasted his welcome with his strict coaching style, but nonetheless helped set the foundation for the latest iterations of successful Rangers teams.

5. Gerard Gallant — 2021-23, 164 games, .662 PTS%

Gerard Gallant is the third most successful coach by points percentage in franchise history, his two-year tenure in New York leaves a tumultuous and complicated legacy.

Gallant succeeded where Quinn failed, taking the Rangers out of rebuilding purgatory and making them a certified contender with a 110-point season and a trip to the Eastern Conference Final in his first year at the helm in 2021-22.

That season was a nice surprise, one that reframed expectations for the current squad. But the Blueshirts struggled to find their footing the following season. They still finished third in the Metropolitan Division with 107 points but failed to make the most of a star-studded roster, falling to the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the playoffs after blowing a 2-0 series lead.

Gallant leaned heavily on his veterans and did little to facilitate the development of young forwards like Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, and was criticized mightily for his lack of on-ice strategic adjustments, particularly in the postseason. His relationship with players, as well as GM Chris Drury, deteriorated, and he was fired despite back-to-back 100-point seasons.

4. Tom Renney — 2004-09, 327 games, .572 PTS%

Tom Renney helped the Rangers end a seven-year postseason drought, qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in every season after officially assuming the head coaching role following the lockout.

Led by MVP-level play from Jaromir Jagr, who set franchise records with 54 goals and 123 points in 2005-06, and the emergence of Henrik Lundqvist as an elite No. 1 goaltender, the Rangers were once again a competitive team and finished with between 94 and 100 points from 2005 to 2009.

Renney was never able to get the Blueshirts past the second round of the playoffs and came under fire for his constant juggling of lines, particularly towards the end of his time in New York. He also received blame for his perceived misuse of Petr Prucha, who scored 30 goals in his rookie campaign but saw his production dip in the years to come as he failed to live up to his promising start.

Still, Renney brought the Rangers out of the longest postseason drought in franchise history and ushered in the Lundqvist era.

3. John Tortorella — 2000 / 2009-13, 319 games, .583 PTS%

The polarizing John Tortorella was — if nothing else — entertaining to watch on and off the ice. “You either love him or you hate him” is a phrase that applies better to few people in the hockey world than Torts.

But beyond his often edgy personality and spats with the media, Tortorella helped forge a tough and gritty identity for the Rangers, culminating in some very successful seasons in the early 2010s. With players like Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Dan Girardi, Derek Stepan, and Carl Hagelin coming into their own, the Blueshirts became one of the fiercest defensive teams to play against.

His high mark came in 2011-12 when the Rangers finished first in the Atlantic Division with 107 points and reached Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final before falling to the Devils. It remains a surprise to many that he didn’t win the Jack Adams Award for his work that season.

Tortorella is rightly criticized for his treatment of Marian Gaborik, who he pushed to be traded because he didn’t believe the talented wing could succeed in the playoffs. Gaborik would do just that in 2014, scoring a team-high 14 goals for the Los Angeles Kings en-route to the Stanley Cup championship, taking down his former team in the process.

His hard-nosed attitude and open criticism through the media likely wore off on the team by his final season and the Rangers ultimately had their best seasons after he was fired, but the identity he established was a good fit for New York and helped the development of numerous young pieces who became key players by the mid-2010s.

2. Peter Laviolette — 2023-present, 82 games, .695 PTS%

If Laviolette stepped down today, his .695 points percentage would be the highest in the Rangers’ 97-year history. Winning the Presidents’ Trophy with a franchise-record 55 wins and 114 points, Laviolette set a high bar in his first season.

The magical year ended in the Eastern Conference Final when the Blueshirts were outclassed in six games by the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. Still, Laviolette was a refreshing change from Gallant, implementing rigorous but engaging practices and active strategic adjustments that routinely worked out.

On top of career years from Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, Laviolette entrusted Lafreniere with top-six minutes, allowing the former No. 1 overall pick to blossom with a 28-goal, 57-point season and an eight-goal postseason that breeds excitement for his future.

Whether or not he can get the Blueshirts over the hump and into the Stanley Cup Final remains to be seen, but Laviolette has quickly ingratiated himself with Rangers fans after his inaugural season.

1. Alain Vigneault — 2013-2018, 410 games, .596 PTS%, 1 SCF appearance

It’s hard to argue for anyone over Alain Vigneault considering the Rangers lone appearance in a Stanley Cup Final since 1994 came during his tenure.

After finishing second in the Metro with 96 points, Vigneault took the Blueshirts to the 2014 Stanley Cup Final in his first season, falling to the Kings in five games. The following season, the Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy with a then-franchise record 113-point season, this time losing in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final after crucial injuries to Mats Zuccarello and Ryan McDonagh.

Despite two more 100-point seasons, the Rangers would not return to the conference final, losing in the first and second round the next two years before missing the playoffs entirely and finishing dead last in the division in his fifth and final season, after the Rangers traded McDonagh, J.T. Miller, and Rick Nash among others ahead of the deadline.

Like many of the coaches on this list, the ending was not pretty for Vigneault, who struggled with the handling of young talent and was reluctant to entrust players like Miller, Kevin Hayes, and Buchnevich with ice time despite the fact that the team needed to become more reliant on their young guns.

But nevertheless, he finished with 226 wins, third-most in Rangers history, and remains the only coach to lead the Blueshirts to a Stanley Cup Final since Mike Keenan did so in 1994.

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