After coaching more than 700 games in the NHL, Gerard Gallant is headed to the KHL this upcoming season. The former New York Rangers coach was named bench boss for the Shanghai Dragons on Wednesday.
The official announcement was celebrated with an elaborate video on social media, one that featured eye-popping graphics, anime, and Gallant wearing traditional Chinese battle armor.
Rumors that Gallant would coach in the KHL in 2025-26 surfaced a month ago. It was widely reported that Gallant would join Kunlun Red Star, the only Chinese team in the Kontinental Hockey League.
Last week, Kunlun Red Star rebranded as the Shanghai Dragons, paving the way for the team to finally make Gallant's hiring official.
The franchise hasn't played in China since 2019-20, due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic in that country. The Dragons are based in St. Petersburg, Russia, this coming season, and plan to return to Shanghai for the 2026-27 season.
Gallant agreed to a two-year contract and will join the Dragons "once his visa is sorted," per team CEO Sergey Belykh. Once he arrives, Gallant has his work cut out for him. The franchise hasn't made the Gagarin Cup Playoffs in eight years and its roster still needs to be filled out before the regular season begins in September.
"That instantly reminded us of Vegas [ Golden Knights ], a team that made it to the Stanley Cup Final in their very first season, with Gérard Gallant serving as head coach at the time," Belykh explained . "Once again having to turn a roster of largely unfamiliar teammates into a cohesive, high-performing unit in a very short time, Gallant delivered."
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Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Gallant hasn't coached professionally since the Rangers fired him after the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Rangers were knocked out in the first round that spring. They blew a 2-0 series lead against the New Jersey Devils after winning the first two games on the road, ultimately dropping Game 7 at the Prudential Center.
Despite criticism that Gallant was badly outcoached by Lindy Ruff in that series, he had a very successful — albeit brief — run on Broadway. Gallant's .662 points percentage over two full seasons is second-best in Rangers history , behind only Mike Keenan (.667), who coached them to the Stanley Cup championship in 1993-94, his only season in New York.
The Rangers were 52-24-6 (110 points) in Gallant's first season behind the bench in 2021-22. He coached them to the 2022 Eastern Conference Final, where the Rangers faltered after a strong start and lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. Along the way, Gallant and the Rangers outlasted the Pittsburgh Penguins (coached by Mike Sullivan), winning Game 7 of their first-round series on Artemi Panarin 's overtime goal.
Gallant, who turns 62 next month, is 369-262-70 with four ties coaching in the NHL. Along with the Rangers, he coached the Columbus Blue Jackets , Florida Panthers and Golden Knights. He won the Jack Adams Award as top NHL coach in 2017-18 when he guided the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season.
"We understood that building a strong team usually takes more than one season — the example of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl speaks for itself. Unfortunately, we don't have that kind of time," Belykh explained. "That's why the Dragons needed not just an experienced, high-profile head coach, but a specialist capable of building a competitive team in the shortest possible time.
"As it turned out, Gallant emerged as the clear choice, meeting every single one of team's criteria."
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