from Ethan Sears of the New York Post,

For whatever reason, there is an undercurrent of resignation to Peter Laviolette’s inclusion in the discussion of who will be the Rangers’ next coach, as if he is there by dint of his availability on the job market instead of due to his accomplishments over two decades as an NHL coach.

Maybe that is to be expected after the Capitals mutually parted ways with Laviolette following a 35-37-10 record this past season, which put an end to a playoff streak that had begun in 2015 and marked just the second time since 2007 that the tournament was conducted without Washington.

The body of work for Laviolette, though, includes a Stanley Cup championship with the 2006 Hurricanes and appearances in the Cup final with the 2010 Flyers and 2017 Predators....

“I don’t know why he wouldn’t be a strong candidate,” Mike Milbury, the general manager who first hired Laviolette on Long Island, told The Post by phone Friday. “I know sometimes people want to shake it up with a radical approach and hire younger guys, college guys, but if you want an experienced guy who knows how to handle the bench and knows how to handle the locker room — key elements of being a successful coach — I think he’d be a strong candidate for any openings that are existing in the league today.”

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