Gerard Gallant is excited about his opportunity to coach in the KHL this upcoming season. But that doesn't mean he's happy about not receiving another NHL job offer after the the New York Rangers fired him following the 2022-23 season.
"I've been out for two years … and nothing's happened yet," Gallant said on the 1st Up morning show on TSN 1050 in Toronto . "Am I a little pissed off? Yeah. But that's the way it goes and you wait for your turn and your opportunities.
"So, I took this job. I'm going to Russia, going to St. Petersburg. I have a two-year contract and I'm going to honor that contract."
Gallant was hired by the Shanghai Dragons on Wednesday. The soon-to-be 62-year-old was negotiating with Kunlun Red Star earlier this summer before they relocated and rebranded as the Shanghai Dragons last week.
To confuse matters even more, the Dragons will play their home games in St. Petersburg, Russia, this season. They hope to set up a permanent home in Shanghai, China, in time for the 2026-27 season. The Red Star/Dragons franchise hasn't played in China since 2019-20, due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic in that country.
"I have no idea what's going on. I read like you guys did yesterday … I've been doing more of the hockey stuff, trying to get our team ready to play in the league, and all that," Gallant offered. "With the Shanghai thing, obviously, down the road they're going to be moving the team over there. But, again, I know fairly little about that so far."
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Gallant said he didn't get serious about coaching in the KHL until all the NHL vacancies were filled this summer. The Rangers were among a slew of a teams to hire a new coach this offseason, bringing aboard Mike Sullivan to replace the fired Peter Laviolette two years after Laviolette replaced Gallant.
"The last NHL job that was available was Dallas and I was obviously hoping for that, getting an opportunity with that, but it didn't work out," Gallant explained. "I thought about it and said, 'You know what? I've got to get back to coaching.' I've been out of coaching for two years. I'm 61 years old and I've got to get back at it if I'm going to be a coach again. So, this opportunity came up and I said, ' Yeah, I'll definitely give it a shot.'"
Gallant is 369-262-70 with four ties coaching in the NHL. Along with the Rangers, he has 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.
He was 99-46-19 in two seasons as Rangers coach, after replacing the fired David Quinn in the 2021 offseason. His .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 guided them to the Eastern Conference Final that spring, 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 Sullivan's Pittsburgh Penguins , winning Game 7 of their first-round series in overtime.
His second season behind the Rangers bench also was a good one. The Rangers were 47-22-13 (107 points) in 2022-23. However, he was fired after they flamed out in the first round of the playoffs, losing in seven games to the New Jersey Devils despite winning the first two contests on the road to open the series.
Gallant coached Canada in the Spengler Cup last season. He will be joined by longtime assistant with the Dragons this season.
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