Vegas Golden Knights fire Gerard Gallant, hire Peter DeBoer
In a shocking move, the Vegas Golden Knights have parted with head coach Gerard Gallant. They’re replacing him with former San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer.
Coaches have been getting fired at a ridiculous rate this season. Entering Wednesday, Jan. 15, six coaches had been told to pack their bags. And now it’s seven, as the Vegas Golden Knights have parted ways with head coach Gerard Gallant. Surprisingly, they’re replacing him with former adversary Peter DeBoer, who used to coach the San Jose Sharks.
DeBoer will be joining his fourth NHL team as a head coach. He has also coached the Florida Panthers (2008-11), New Jersey Devils (2011-15), and Sharks (2015-19). DeBoer was let go as the Sharks head coach back in December.
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This firing comes at an interesting time for the Golden Knights for several reasons. First of all, Gallant was scheduled to be the head coach of the Pacific Division at the All-Star Game. This isn’t the first time something weird has happened around the All-Star Game, as John Scott was elected as a Pacific Division captain, but then traded to the Montreal Canadiens.
It will be interesting to see what happens now. Will DeBoer be the coach of the Pacific Division? Can the NHL really let Gallant coach the Pacific Division after all of this? This sort of thing is rare because the division coaches at the All-Star Game come from the team with the best record in each division.
Secondly, the Golden Knights are coming off a four-game losing streak. Is Vegas trying to save their season? Does their season really even need saving? If it does, it’s hard to blame Gallant. The Golden Knights have had various injuries. Star forward Jon Marchessault and defenseman Nate Schmidt have both missed significant time.
Thirdly, I’m not entirely sure the Golden Knights issues are related to coaching. Their roster is flawed and that’s not on Gallant. The Golden Knights lost quite a few players this summer, including Nikita Gusev and Colin Miller. They’re also in an awful cap situation, which has further limited the Knights’ depth.
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DeBoer is quite a fascinating addition to the Golden Knights. The Sharks and Knights have quite a bit of history, and this season’s matchups have done nothing to put out that fire. DeBoer is a good coach, but there’s a reason why the Sharks fired him. He’s a good defensive coach, so maybe he can help the Golden Knights solve some of their defensive issues. But if Gallant couldn’t fix them, I’m not sure if DeBoer can.