Todd Nelson has won five different minor league championships as head coach in the last two decades. That includes back-to-back titles for the Washington Capitals' AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, the past two seasons. He also aided the Dallas Stars to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020 as an assistant who heavily guided team tactics.

Laviolette departs with a 94–59–11 regular-season record and a 10–5–1 playoff mark in New York. He became the sixth NHL coach fired after two seasons or less with the franchise and the second straight Rangers coach to be dismissed after two years.

Less than an hour after firing Peter Laviolette, New York Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury acknowledged there was blame to spread around, meeting with the media Saturday and saying, “Everyone here — players, management, staff — needs to take ownership of the season.”