5/27/23 | 10:30 AM: Elliotte Friedman said on 32 Thoughts on Saturday, “I think a lot of people are beginning to lean Petter Laviolette on this one. If it is Laviolette we are going to find out next week.”
5/26/23 | 1:08 PM: Arthur Staple writes that while the Rangers did their “homework” on Babcock, neither side pursued it “very far.” (The Athletic)
Staple writes that the Rangers are “believed” to have inquired about Patrick Roy, possibly as far back as when the team was struggling during the regular season, but that “it’s not clear” if he will be a candidate. (The Athletic)
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11:35 AM: Elliotte Friedman said on 32 Thoughts that he was asked which team could hire their coach first and said: “a lot of us thought that it might be Columbus, I had someone say to me that they think the Rangers could be moving closer to that list, too.”
5/25/23 | On NHL Network on Thursday, Elliotte Friedman spoke about the coaching vacancies and said of the Rangers “I think the Rangers have talked to Laviolette, they’ve talked to Carbery I think they have permission to talk to Jay Leach, although I don’t know if they’ve talked to him yet.”
Larry Brooks wrote in the NY Post that the Rangers coaching search is in a “holding pattern,” but have spoken with Laviolette, Mike Babcock, Carbery and “presumably” Kris Knoblauch.
Brooks said that it is “unknown” if Chris Drury has spoken with Patrick Roy. (NY Post)
When asked if Roy might get a chance or be in the mix for one of the coaching vacancies, Friedman said “I would say yes, the one challenging thing is they are in the Memorial Cup so I think that might wait a little bit. I don’t know specific teams, but I’ve been told that some teams have reached out to at least talk to him, but it might have to wait until the Memorial Cup is over.” (NHL Network)
Brooks also says that the Rangers are not waiting to speak with Joel Quenneville and that his meeting about reinstatement with Gary Bettman may not occur until after the Stanley Cup Final and after all the coaching positions for this year have been filled. (NY Post)