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Vegas Golden Knights: Three reasons Gallant firing was strange

By Andrew Steele-Davis

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 10: Head coach Gerard Gallant of the Vegas Golden Knights watches from the bench during the second period of the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on October 10, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 10: Head coach Gerard Gallant of the Vegas Golden Knights watches from the bench during the second period of the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on October 10, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NV – APRIL 14: Vegas Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant watches over a line change from the bench during a Stanley Cup Playoffs first round game between the San Jose Sharks and the Vegas Golden Knights on April 14, 2019 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Speer/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – APRIL 14: Vegas Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant watches over a line change from the bench during a Stanley Cup Playoffs first round game between the San Jose Sharks and the Vegas Golden Knights on April 14, 2019 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Speer/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

2. Flawed Roster

Like in most other major sports, the Head Coach is responsible for working with what is put in front of him.

This was true for Gerard Gallant.

As already mentioned, he turned chicken feathers into chicken soup during the team’s inaugural year, and he did a fine job of integrating stars in the ilk of Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone into his system last year.

However, in order to remain cap compliant, the front office traded the likes of Erik Haula and Nikita Gusev during the off-season, while allowing Ryan Carpenter and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to walk in free agency.

Those decisions decimated the depth of this roster, particularly the forward depth, and it left Gallant to try and his work his magic with a flawed team.

There has been very little secondary scoring, the blueline needs a makeover and the goaltending has also been less than stellar, all leading to this team failing to meet expectations.

But, at the end of the day, Gallant doesn’t go out and buy the ingredients, he merely tries to make the tastiest dish possible using what he’s given to work with.

As a result, it seems unfair that Gerard Gallant has lost his job given what he has had to work with this year.

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