Irresponsible rumors
During yesterday’s breakup, news broke of an apparent feud between Gerard Gallant and Chris Drury after match four. Arthur Staple confirmed the rumours, that both of them engaged in a heated exchange behind closed doors that players could overhear. The details of the argument are not known, but it doesn’t appear to be the first time the pair have disagreed. It appears that the Gallant/Drury feud has grown stalks that neither of them can control at the moment.
1. It’s hard to hear about the Gallant/Drury feud and I don’t think it leads to Gallant being fired sometime this off-season. The Rangers certainly overachieved last season, but we knew something was off this season. There have been some grumblings about the disconnect between the coach and the GM for some time, and we’ve also heard and seen Gallant send inaccurate messages to Drury with his post-game decisions and comments. That’s why this appears to be a Gallant/Drury conflict, rather than just one argument.
2. In the live broadcast from the blue benches, Rob and Nick make good points about how the Rangers are performing in terms of offensive zone timing, shooting participation, and scoring opportunities. Then one bad stint against Detroit in November changed everything. Gallant changed the lines that were working, but he had bad luck. The removed lines – notably Capo Kaku on the top line and Alexis Lafrenière on the second line – were running, and they couldn’t buy a goal.
Shooting always changes luck. Especially for a team shooting 6% in November. Immediately after those unnecessary changes, Igor Shesterkin started rounding into shape. Gallant is tricked into thinking the streaks are the problem, when it’s just luck and the fall of the target.
We all know how that turns out.
3. It’s fairly clear that Drury had some problems there, as just after that game in November we saw Barclay Goudreau and Jimmy Vesey, bottom six players in Drury’s eyes, in the top six on a regular basis. The Gallant/Drury feud didn’t start there, as we heard these grumbles last season, too. We ignored those grumbles at the time because the menu was clearly flawed, but this time we just couldn’t ignore them. These issues were Gallant’s making, not Drury’s.
4. Remember also that Gallant was almost fired in November after the Rangers were above a hockey-500 in early December. Then Jacob Trueba’s helmet throw happened. The Rangers won seven straight and went on a ridiculous run fueled by, you guessed it, Igor Shesterkin and Powerplay. We were mostly ignoring the under-par base numbers – which signifies a lot of time in the defensive zone – because they were winning.
Before December, there was an operation but no results. After that, the results were without any operation. The first leads to long-term success in the playoffs. The latter lead to a first-round exit and a 2-0 lead in the series because the team spent 60% of the time in the defensive zone.
5. On the surface, it’s hard to see how things like this could fuel the Gallant/Drury feud, but they’re all layers on top of each other. It starts with a 2-0 lead against Tampa as Gallant made no adjustments in the game or even in the series, which is a known weakness. Then we see an obvious problem with the bottom defense pair as NHL players barely get a nod on a kid or two.
Then the November/December drama, where Gallant was nearly fired.
And it all ended with a first-round exit, missing expectations by a large margin.
6. The conclusion from all of these points is that there was a very clear breakup between Gallant and Drury, and it’s over. Will this Gallant/Drury feud get Gallant fired?
This part we don’t know yet. What we do know is that Drury is methodical and doesn’t make rash decisions, so it’s not expected – although it is possible – that Gallant be fired right away. Drury will likely want to see how the coaching market plays out, as his rumored original preference in Mike Sullivan remains under contract in Pittsburgh for the time being. Perhaps Joel Quenneville will change his mind.
Guys like Bruce Boudreau and Peter Laviolette are probably not the answer to Drury.
Maybe Daryl Sutter, as Rob has pointed out several times. But there are rumors of him turning away Calgary players, most of them coming from the side of Jonathan Huberdeau. Sutter may not be likable, but he’s getting results. All of his teams have positive xG and shot share percentages, which is missing from the Rangers at the moment. His drawback, like Gallant’s, is that he doesn’t want to give kids too much ice time.
7. Drury probably only had one coach before he got on the hot seat for not delivering with this list. He will make sure he gets his man. Gallant could still be here in October, but he will be fired mid-season if this feud continues. Drury could also go full Billy Bean and trade in all of Gallant’s favourites, forcing him to play the players Drury thinks should be on the roster. That’s scorched earth though.
It should have ended with a Moneyball cue.
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Tags: Chris Drury, Gerard Gallant
Rated: Irresponsible Rumor