Rangers HC Puts Himself on Hot Seat After Post-Game Comments

The head coach of the New York Rangers made a bizarre post-game comment that likely put him on the hot seat.

Mar 22, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette speaks with the media after a 5-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

The New York Rangers are not mathematically eliminated from the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs despite a recent loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The playoffs are still within reach, but that loss felt like the deciding factor in a season full of disappointments.

Losers of seven of their last 10 and six points behind the final Wild Card spot, the Rangers are in a difficult position. Needing some direction, the Blue Shirts could use wisdom and guidance from their head coach, Peter Laviolette. So, when New York media asked Laviolette what his message to his locker room was after the loss to the Lightning, his response was baffling and bizarre.

"I don't have a message right now," he said. "I don't go into the locker room after the game."

Does Laviolette have a message for the team at this stage?

"I don’t have a message right now. I don’t go into the locker room after the game."#NYR

— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) April 8, 2025

The entire postgame statements from the HC provide a bit more context, but there's not many ways to interpret his comments. Laviolette has lost the locker room. Even if this is the routine they've established under the veteran coach, a team trying to earn a playoff spot coming off a dispiriting loss needs their coach the most. Instead, Laviolette admitted to already checking out on the season. How could he expect anything else from his lineup?

The comments call to mind John Tortorella and his recent dismissal from the Philadelphia Flyers. Just days after Torts made some questionable comments about his waning desire to coach in a losing situation, the Flyers jettisoned him out of town. Laviolette's comments could be the start of his breakup with the Rangers.

The other noticeable issue is Laviolette's continued distrust of younger players. The Rangers signed top prospect Gabe Perreault to his entry-level contract with the hopes of him impressing in a brief NHL audition. It took just a handful of games for Laviolette to demote Perreault to a bottom-six role. Both Perreault and fellow rookie Brennan Othmann are playing some of the lowest ice time totals of the entire Rangers lineup.

That was the case again against the Lightning. Laviolette dropped both rookies to the bottom lines and blamed it on the matchup issue the Lightning's top line presented to the Rangers. As Rangers reporter Vince Mercogliano noted via his X account, Laviolette's reasoning felt like rationalizing his distrust without evidence.

On why he dropped Perreault and Othmann to the bottom 6, #NYR coach Peter Laviolette said, "Some of that had to do with the opponent tonight and their top line – just making sure we had the pieces out there that we thought could handle that line."

Basically, he didn't trust the…

— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) April 8, 2025

The Rangers' season is toast. They showed flashes of hope, but ultimately could not overcome their mounting disappointments. Their head coach's performance is one of many, but his postgame comments are likely the start of his final days with the Rangers.

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