The Vegas Golden Knights are in the midst of searching for the franchise’s first head coach and Gerard Gallant appears to be one of the lead candidates.
According to Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos, Gallant might have an “inside track” to land the coveted job.
Gallant was fired by the Florida Panthers this past November after going 96-65-25 in parts of three seasons with the team. His dismissal was widely viewed as a puzzling one. Don Cherry even described it as “the worst firing in the history of [the NHL]” during a Coach’s Corner segment in December.
Golden Knights general manager George McPhee told Prime Time Sports earlier this week he emphasized to his staff his desire to get a veteran coach. He went on to explain the plan was to have a coach in place by sometime in the spring.
This would lead one to think Ken Hitchcock, who was fired by the St. Louis Blues Wednesday, would be a a potential candidate as well.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman added that he thinks Vegas has interviewed Gallant as well as had contact with former New York Islanders bench boss Jack Capuano, who was fired last month.
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