Peter Laviolette Enters 2025-26 Season Without A Coaching Job

It looks as if Peter Laviolette will begin the 2025-26 season without a coaching job. 

After two seasons with the New York Rangers, Laviolette was fired at the end of the 2024-25 season. 

It was a tenure filled with highs and lows, as during his first year with the Blueshirts, they won the Presidents’ Trophy and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final, but things quickly went downhill. 

This past season, the Rangers dealt with internal issues and severely regressed from just one year prior. New York shockingly missed the playoffs, which cost Laviolette his job. 

Despite Laviolette’s impressive pedigree, all the head coaching vacancies came and went with Laviolette not being chosen. 

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Laviolette was motivated to get another NHL head coaching job after a disastrous season with the New York Rangers.

“He wanted to show people that last year wasn’t on him, and it was bigger than just coaching,” Friedman said. “He would have the desire to prove it and show it and Laviolette does have the reputation as the turnaround master. His teams in the first year do extremely well. But he’d definitely got that mentality and the word on that is out there.”

It’s unclear if Laviolette was open to taking an assistant coaching job or if he was even offered one, but for now, it does not appear as if he’ll be coaching in any sort of capacity. 

The 60-year-old coach will likely have to wait until a job opens up either mid-season or next summer.