Peter Laviolette to New York Rangers: Pros and cons as he eyes Big Apple coaching role

Peter Laviolette is the favorite to be the next head coach of the New York Rangers.

Laviolette has been a head coach in the NHL since 2001 as he first coached the New York Islanders and has since coached the Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators and Washington Capitals. He became available after mutually parting ways with the Capitals following Washington missing the playoffs.

Although the Capitals decided to move on from Laviolette, the New York Rangers, who fired Gerard Gallant, are likely to hire Laviolette as the new head coach. Here are some pros and cons of the Rangers hiring Laviolette.

Pro: He's won the Cup

Peter Laviolette has coached a team to the Stanley Cup before as he was the head coach of the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes that won the title.

Although that is the only time Laviolette has won the Cup as a head coach, he did coach the Philadelphia Flyers to a Stanley Cup appearance in 2009-10 but lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, when the Flyers were the seventh seed.

Laviolette then coached the Nashville Predators to the Stanley Cup in 2017 but lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. Throughout his career, Laviolette has been a solid coach who has led his team to deep playoff runs.

Con: Struggled as of late

Although Peter Laviolette won a Cup in 2006 and got to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2010 and 2017, as of late, he has struggled.

This past season, his Washington Capitals missed the playoffs and lost in the first round the two previous seasons.

In 2019, Laviolette was fired by Nashville fter losing in the first round. The news came as a shock as the players liked playing for him.

"Obviously I think it was a shock to everyone," Roman Josi said. "It's always sad to see guys like [Laviolette] and [McCarthy] go. They're great coaches but they're great people too, so I think you build a relationship with them over the years.

"I think they took this organization and this team to new heights over the past couple years. I think that's why you take a lot of responsibility."

Pro: He turns teams around quickly

One of the biggest reasons NHL teams look to hire Peter Laviolette is the fact he has turned teams around rather quickly.

The New York Rangers are in win-now mode and in his history as a coach, Laviolette has had immediate success. He took the Islanders to the playoffs in his first season in 2001-02 after the team had missed seven straight seasons. Laviolette then won the Stanley Cup in 2006 in his first year as the Hurricanes head coach.

Peter Laviolette then took Philadelphia to the finals after being hired 25 games into the 2009-10 season. Finally, Laviolette took Nashville to the finals in his third season as coach in 2016-17.

Con: Laviolette prefers veterans

Although the New York Rangers are in win-now mode, throughout Peter Laviolette's time as a head coach, he doesn't like playing younger players all that much.

Instead, Laviolette likes using veteran players he knows he can trust, which may not be an issue in New York as it has an older team. But young players are needed for teams to win as they come with a cheap cap, but Laviolette has proven he shies away from using them.