Why Gallant to the Devils is better for the Vegas Golden Knights

Former Vegas Golden Knights Head Coach Gerard Gallant was never going to be out of work for long, and his proposed next move might work out pretty well for his old team.

According to Pierre LeBrun of TSN, the New Jersey Devils have interviewed Vegas Golden Knights favorite Gallant for their Head Coach vacancy, which has been filled by Alain Nasreddine on an interim basis since John Hynes was fired on Dec. 3, 2019.

Of course, keeping in with the new world we live in, Gallant’s interview took place virtually according to LeBrun.

The Devils also chatted to several other potential candidates as they look to find the perfect guy that can help them rebuild before becoming a legitimate contender again following a bitterly disappointing 2019-20 season.

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And, if the Devils do decide that Gallant is their guy, then that will be very good news for the Golden Knights.

Because, out of work since being fired by the Knights on Jan. 15, in a shocking move that sent ripples throughout the hockey world, Gallant has been linked to a number of jobs.

Chief among them has been the new Seattle franchise, who are still in the early stages of building a team from the ground floor up ahead of entering the NHL in 2021-22.

Many experts felt Gallant would be the perfect fit for Seattle GM Ron Francis following his body of work in Vegas.

After all, Gallant did bring together a group of other teams’ misfits before turning them into a Stanley Cup contender in their inaugural year, so you couldn’t blame Francis if he had Gallant at the top of his coaching wish-list.

It could well be that Gallant is still drawing glances from Seattle, but there’s a couple of reasons why the Golden Knights should hope that he’s unveiled as the new Head Coach of the New Jersey Devils.

For starters, having coached the Golden Knights for a two-and-a-bit years, leading them to two postseason appearances, Gallant knows the Pacific Division inside out.

Given that Seattle will be replacing the Arizona Coyotes in the Pacific, with the Coyotes switching to the Central Division, Gallant would have an edge when it came to preparing his new team for what lays ahead.

He would have the inside track on the Division while he would obviously know the Golden Knights inside out, which could be a huge advantage to Seattle in the four or five games they would play against Vegas a year.

Head coach Gerard Gallant of the Vegas Golden Knights speaks during a news conference following his team’s 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings in their preseason game at T-Mobile Arena. /

Also, and as already mentioned, Gallant has a proven pedigree now when it comes to helping an expansion team navigate their way through their first couple of years in the NHL.

Of course, Gallant would be at the mercy of the work done by the front office in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, but the track record is there to suggest that Gallant could make Seattle a formidable force in the Pacific.

And, finally, there is the added caveat that things didn’t exactly end well between Gallant and the Golden Knights given the shocking nature of how the two parties ended their relationship.

While the Knights were struggling to add consistency to their game, there is no doubt that Gallant would have led Vegas to their third straight postseason berth, so the fact he was fired when he was still triggers confusion among many.

As a result, there is no doubt that Gallant would carry a chip on his shoulder and he would relish trying to prove a point to the Golden Knights as Head Coach of the Seattle franchise.

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So, for the Vegas Golden Knights, the best-case scenario would be for Gerard Gallant to emerge successful and get the Head Coach gig with the New Jersey Devils in the Metro Division, where he would only face his old team a couple of times a year.

Plus, the Devils have some talented pieces in stud goalie MacKenzie Blackwood and phenom forward Jack Hughes, so the ingredients are there for Gallant to be successful and I’m sure all Golden Knights fans would love to see their old Head Coach enjoy the success he deserves.

Just not at the expense of the Golden Knights as could be the case if Gallant ended up in Seattle.

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