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The seasonlong layoff ex-Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette had after he was relieved of his duties in New York in April 2025 was the longest he’d spent away from the NHL since the lockout season.
He went to Scotland to watch his daughter Elisabeth’s fiancé play golf. He visited the historic coastal university town of St. Andrews and attended a couple of weddings he otherwise wouldn’t have been able to.
The 61-year-old spent time with his wife Kristen and his family, and was able to watch his son Peter play in his final season in the East Coast Hockey League.
It was obvious how much Laviolette relished that time as he reflected on it from outside the visitors locker room in his return to Madison Square Garden as head coach of the Kings on Monday.
The whiplash of his first season to his second in Manhattan — going from winning the Presidents Trophy and losing in the conference final to missing the playoffs — certainly required some recovery.
“It was kind of a tale of two years,” Laviolette said of his tenure with the Rangers ahead of his new team’s clash with the Blueshirts on Monday night. “The first year was really good, I mean, most wins and most points and a very storied franchise. Took it to three rounds to Florida and lost in Game 6, and that was disappointing. Not to win a couple more games and get that chance to play for the Cup. But, overall, looking back at that year, it was a year that was really good. It was something that I’ll remember being here in New York. Obviously, the second year was not as smooth and had problems inside of it.”
Los Angeles hired Laviolette in June after relieving D.J. Smith of his interim responsibilities behind the Kings bench.
The hiring ensured a Rangers reunion out West between Laviolette and Artemi Panarin, who decided he wanted to go to LA after he was informed by president and general manager Chris Drury that he wouldn’t be re-signed in January.
Drury eventually traded Panarin to the Kings in exchange for prospect Liam Greentree and a conditional 2026 third-round pick that became Slovakian center Tomas Chrenko.
In addition to former Rangers associate coach Phil Housley joining Laviolette on the West Coast, one-time Ranger Erik Gustafsson also signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the Kings on July 1 to play under the veteran coach for a third time.
“I really enjoyed being here,” Laviolette said. “I love being at Madison Square Garden. I mean, the New York fans were just awesome. I can’t tell you how many times I was around the country and somebody would come up to me and say, ‘I’m the biggest Rangers fan ever.’ And I’m like, ‘They’re all the biggest Rangers fans ever.’ And I think they are. They talk about the history of how their grandfather took them to a game like 50 years ago, and they’re 60 years old and now they’re taking their grandkids. Because it’s been around for 100 years, you get stories like that.
“You can feel the passion from the people and the fans, and it’s pretty cool to be in a city like this. It’s one of the greatest cities in the country. It’s a huge sports market. It’s Madison Square Garden. It’s the New York Rangers. There was a lot of things that I loved about being here and part of New York.”