Peter Laviolettes Rangers future still hangs in the balance

The first day of the Rangers’ offseason came and went without any news of the coaching staff’s fate moving forward.  Join Post Sports+ for exciting member-only features, including real-time texting with Mollie Walker about the inside buzz on the Rangers.There has been a strong belief that head coach Peter Laviolette would not survive the disaster that was this 2024-25 season. Though there was no word on the matter from the Blueshirts on Friday, multiple coaches around the NHL addressed their status with their current teams that could have an effect on the organization’s search should Laviolette ultimately be relieved of his duties. Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury and longtime Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan have a preexisting relationship. Not only are they Boston University alums, the two were U.S.

teammates in the 1997 World Championships.Drury also played under Sullivan, who was an assistant with the Rangers, for his last two seasons playing in the NHL in 2009-10 and 2010-11. They were reunited at the NHL’s 4 Nations Faceoff with Team USA, with Sullivan serving as head coach and Drury as assistant general manager to Bill Guerin. If Sullivan had been available in May 2023, when Drury was looking to replace Gerard Gallant, there’s no question he would’ve been the No.

1 choice. Coming off signing a three-year extension with Pittsburgh in 2022, Sullivan told The Post that summer that he was in it for the long haul with the Penguins.On Friday at the Penguins’ breakup day, Sullivan shared a similar sentiment to presumably set the record straight and avoid offseason speculation again. “My intentions are to be the head coach moving forward,” he told reporters. In wrapping up Sullivan’s 10th season with the Penguins, Pittsburgh has failed to qualify for the playoffs for three straight years.

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