When Gerard Gallant was fired as head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights in mind-January, many expected his phone would be ringing off the hook with job offers from other teams. The consensus seemed to be that Gallant would be unemployed for only as long as he chose to be, as teams would be beating down his door to get him behind their bench. According to TSN's Pierre LeBrun, that hasn't been the case.
“Well he says in the last four or five days he's finally starting to be in a better place," said LeBrun on TSN's Insider Trading . "He did take it hard. He was surprised that he got the axe in that situation, his team just a couple points out of a playoff spot. But, he is turning the page at a terrific time in Vegas. And now the question is, what next?"
"What he told me Thursday is that he is in no rush. He's going to use the rest of the year to decompress. He's enjoying spending time with family, in fact he's in Vegas this week tying up some loose ends. He says he has not spoken with any teams since his firing. His phone has been quiet that way.”
That comes as a bit of a surprise as Gallant has plenty of experience coaching in the NHL. Besides Vegas, he held head coaching positions with Columbus and Florida, while serving as an assistant with Montreal, the New York Islanders and, once again, the Blue Jackets. Gallant also seems to have a way with connecting with players, bringing out the best in them. As for his next move, LeBrun said he expects things to change during the offseason.
“I think what you'll see in the off-season is quite a rush to get to Gerard Gallant, is my expectation. He has a year and a half left on his contract in Vegas. The team that intrigues me the most, is the team that hasn't played a game yet: the Seattle expansion franchise.”
At one point, it was highly expected that former Toronto coach Mike Babcock would be in line for that position with Seattle. Babcock's reputation has taken a beating since he was let go from the Maple Leafs, though. Once regarded as one of the best NHL coaches of the modern era, stories of player manipulation, as well as alleged physical and mental abuse, have somewhat tarnished his name.
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