What was known to be completed in the past few days became official Wednesday, as the Rangers announced David Quinn would be their 35th coach in franchise history. He will have his official meet-and-greet press conference at the Garden on Thursday, and finally the Blueshirts can move forward with the rest of their offseason plans.
Quinn, 51, leaves Boston University after five seasons behind its bench and takes over a young Rangers roster that is filled with players who came through the college ranks. The hope is that Quinn can develop the talent while not taking too long to turn them into a group that can compete for and in the postseason.
“I am very pleased to welcome David Quinn to the New York Rangers,” Garden chairman James Dolan said in a statement. “David brings a diverse and successful coaching resume that includes extensive work in developing young talent. I am confident he is an excellent fit for our team, and know he will work tirelessly with [President] Glen [Sather], [GM] Jeff [Gorton] and our entire organization to execute our plan to build the next Rangers Stanley Cup contending team.”
Gorton fired Alain Vigneault immediately after the final game of this regular season on April 7 after five mostly successful seasons behind the bench. But the defensive structure had been a problem in recent years, with assistant coaches Ulf Samuelsson, Jeff Beukeboom and Lindy Ruff all unable to create stability in the Rangers’ own end.
So in comes Quinn, who was a highly touted young defenseman in his own right and spent years running the defensive side of the puck under legendary BU coach Jack Parker.
“In a coaching career that has spanned over two decades at the collegiate, pro, and international level, David has helped his teams achieve success while simultaneously teaching the game and helping his players develop on and off the ice,” Gorton said in the same statement. “He is the ideal choice to bring our loyal and passionate fans the winning hockey they deserve.”
The Rangers organization had made a clear declaration during this past season that they were trying to rebuild, beginning when they sent a letter to the fans on Feb. 8 that foreshadowed the trades of many veteran players to obtain draft picks and young prospects in return. It was the first time the Rangers had missed the playoffs since 2009-10, and just the second time since the hard salary cap was introduced after the 2004-05 lockout.
A few weeks after the season ended, Dolan told The Post the Blueshirts were looking for a “developmental coach,” and it seems their rather secretive search didn’t spread too much further than Quinn and Denver University’s Jim Montgomery, who ended up taking the job as the headman of the Stars.
There was a point after the first interview with the Rangers when Quinn had told friends he intended to return to BU, as well as continue with the job as head coach for the U.S. team in the 2019 World Junior Championships. But there seemed to be a change of heart, and now Quinn is totally focused on the Rangers.
It seems that going into training camp, the Rangers will have at least 10 players who have gone through the college system, including Kevin Shattenkirk, who played for Quinn for two years at BU when Quinn was an assistant coach under Parker. From there, Quinn left for three years to be the head coach for AHL Lake Erie before one season as an assistant for Joe Sacco with the Avalanche in 2012-13. He then returned to BU as the head coach in 2013, where he beat out current NHL coaches also in the Metropolitan Division Mike Sullivan (Penguins, two Stanley Cups) and John Hynes (Devils). Quinn led the Terriers to the Frozen Four championship game in 2015 (with Jack Eichel on his team), where they lost to Providence.Quinn was born in Cranston, R.I., and grew up playing with former Islanders coach Jack Capuano — who very well might end up on Quinn’s staff if the Rangers decide to ask permission from the Panthers to speak to their current assistant coach under contract. As of Tuesday, Capuano said he had not heard from Quinn, but that was before anything was made official about his hiring.
Quinn was then a first-round draft pick (No. 13 overall) of the North Stars, but his playing career as a defenseman was cut short due to a hemophilic problem known as Christmas disease. He took up coaching as an assistant at Northeastern in 1994 and spent time at Nebraska-Omaha as well as with different levels of the U.S. Developmental program.
Now development will again be the focus, and it’s on the biggest stage of all.