6/8/23 | 7:42 PM: Larry Brooks writes that Chris Drury is at the scouting combine in Buffalo right now and that the delay in naming a new coach is not related to trying to wait for Joel Quenneville. (NY Post)

12:10 PM: On The Jeff Marek Show, Elliotte Friedman was asked about the Rangers coaching search and said “you know…all I can tell you is that there seems to be a feeling at the combine, and I want to stress this is a feeling, it’s pure gossip, that people there think Hynes has a great shot at it. I don’t know that to be true, but I’m just telling you…doing the old Doug Maclean: I’m not saying it’s true, I’m just telling you what I heard. The one thing that I think is pretty clear is that Drury is wrestling with this. I do believe they had another in-person interview with Hynes this week, I don’t know if that is the first time he’s met with him in person or the second, but I heard they had an in-person interview with Hynes this week and so that doesn’t surprise me then that maybe the timeline got pushed back a bit. Like I said, people at the combine are saying that they think it’s Hynes, but there is absolutely no proof of that and I wouldn’t want that labeled as any kind of report.”

6/5/23 | 1 PM: The Rangers are reportedly not planning to speak with Patrick Roy. (The Athletic, NY Post)

Elliotte Friedman said on The Jeff Marek Show of rumors of the Rangers and Roy, “Unless that happened this morning that is not what I heard. I heard on the weekend that they were kind of deciding between Hynes and Laviolette, if there is someone else there, I didn’t know about it, but as far as I heard, as of last night, the Rangers hadn’t spoken to him. Now maybe they pick up the phone and make the call today, but if I were Calgary or Anaheim I would be calling this guy…”

6/5/23 | Frank Seravalli said on Daily Faceoff Live today “Nothing official to this point yet, but I think there is lots of speculation over the weekend, especially after the Memorial Cup, that the Rangers will reach out at some point to Patrick Roy, to speak to him. Chris Drury and Roy, of course, former teammates. That hasn’t happened yet to my knowledge and the Rangers did speak to John Hynes late last week and had a formal interview after seeking permission from the Preds. There is the BU connection between Hynes and Drury as well, played together for three seasons at BU. I don’t want to say that it’s down to a two horse race because I think that is over simplifying it, but I would expect, now that the Memorial Cup has been handed out and Patrick Roy has added yet another ridiculous trophy to his case and collection that there will be interest and maybe not just from the Rangers.”

6/3/23 | 6:05 PM: Friedman was on NHL Now on Saturday and said of the Rangers ” I think Peter Laviolette was just in there for a second interview. To me, I think the Rangers are probably using this weekend…I thought that if it was going to be Laviolette it would have been done last week, my timeline was off there. I gotta think that the Rangers are at a point now where they are making their decision. To me, I think the likely two guys are him and John Hynes, if there is anybody else who is really seriously in this, I confess that I’m not aware of who that individual is. I think the Rangers are at a point where they are going to be making their choice either this weekend or early next week.”

Friedman added, “The surest predictor of future behavior is past behavior and the last time that Chris Drury had a coaching opening he waited to see if there was any chance Mike Sullivan was going to be available. I don’t think that is going to be happening, I think also they were keeping one eye on Sheldon Keefe, but I don’t think that is going to be happening either, so I think now the Rangers know that the people that have kind of been on their list….”

Asked about Patrick Roy,  “I don’t know. I heard Columbus talked to him, but I think that is the only team that I know talked to Roy.”

1:33 PM: On the 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman spoke about the Rangers coaching search and said “I think this is going to be a weekend where they kind of consider who they might offer the job to.  I think Laviolette is still in there, I think John Hynes is still in there. If anyone else is at the top of that list with those two guys, honestly, I admit, I’m not aware of them.”

Laviolette was reportedly in New York late this past week and John Hynes only became available on Tuesday.

Adam Rotter: Unless they are waiting to speak with Patrick Roy, which is possible, or willing to wait for Joel Quenneville, which no one thinks is the case, it’s time for them to make a choice.

I guess it’s possible, based upon what was reported last week, that the Rangers were on the verge of choosing Laviolette and then Nashville officially fired John Hynes and he threw a bit of a wrench into the situation. I personally don’t see Hynes as a better choice than Laviolette, but I understand Drury trying to be thorough. Still,  it’s been about a month and there wasn’t a tremendous pool of candidates, unless a lot of interviews have not been reported, so it’s time to make a decision. I’d assume that if Patrick Roy was a real contender that he would have had some sort of interview already, even with his team in the Memorial Cup, so I’m not sure they are waiting to speak with him before making their decision.