Locker Room Chaos Sparks Speculation About Major Changes for Rangers
Some major changes could hit the New York Rangers organization as chaos emerged in the locker room.
Nothing seems to be working for the New York Rangers anymore and a lot could change within the team. Nearly halfway through the season, Peter Laviolette's team fell to the last rank of the Metropolitan Division.
The team recently traded its captain, Jacob Trouba, and its longtime prospect, Kaapo Kakko, which hasn't led to the expected results: they lost eight out of their last 10 games.
While making roster changes can't hurt the team, management seems poised to make changes in the bigger picture. We're talking about head coach Peter Laviolette or General Manager Chris Drury.
Of course, the easiest change would be to replace Laviolette.
Renowned reporter Larry Brooks wrote in a recent paper that the Rangers could fire Laviolette soon, as the players quit on him.
In his own words:
With tensions boiling inside the locker room and players seemingly unmotivated, it appears [Laviolette's] time is running out.»
Elliotte Friedman confirmed that Brooks must've gotten that information from a good source, indicating that it could be more than just speculation:
The insider added that as much as anyone else, Laviolette must be struggling to understand why the team's performances dropped so much since last season when they won the Presidents' Trophy:
If the Rangers want to try and bounce back from their poor start, firing their head coach seems like a good start. But if they don't have an interesting candidate lined up for the job, firing Laviolette could wait.
