The New York Rangers fired head coach Peter Laviolette, the team announced Saturday.
The Rangers won the Presidents' Trophy and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final in Laviolette's first campaign with the club in 2023-24. However, they failed to make the playoffs this year despite starting the season with largely the same group.
Associate coach Phil Housley was also let go.
"After finishing with the best regular season record in the NHL a year ago and making a trip to the Eastern Conference Final, we came into this season with high expectations for ourselves. Quite simply, we failed to meet those expectations," president and general manager Chris Drury said.
"We must all do better - myself included. As we head into next season and beyond, I felt that a change was necessary in order to give us the best chance to achieve our goals as an organization. Our search for a new head coach will begin immediately."
The Rangers were the sixth stop of Laviolette's head coaching career. He's also been behind the bench for the Islanders, Hurricanes, Flyers, Predators, and Capitals. He won the 2006 Stanley Cup with Carolina and made two more Cup Final appearances with Philadelphia (2010) and Nashville (2017).
