Rangers hire David Quinn as next head coach

Quinn, the former head coach at Boston University, officially becomes the 35th head coach in Rangers history

The moment they fired Alain Vigneault right at the end of their 2017–18 season, the Rangers were immediately on the clock to find a proper successor. A month and a half later, they finally have their man. David Quinn, now formerly of Boston University, will take over head coaching duties effective immediately for the Rangers.

The agreement has been known for days (and for what seems like months), so this official announcement doesn’t come as much of a surprise. But, let’s see what the Gotham staff thinks about the signing:

Fitz: The Rangers desperately needed a coach who can develop young players as they are about to embark on a rebuild that will have a ton of young guys on the roster. Quinn had a lot of success at BU, and has been an assistant coach in the NHL before. All in all, you shouldn’t be mad about this hire if you’re a Rangers fan. They decided to go with an outside-the-box hire, something this team needed to do. It’s refreshing to see that they didn’t hire a retread or a coach who just needed a fresh start. There are going to be growing pains, for both Quinn and the players, but at least it’ll be exciting to watch.

Bryan Wojtanik (via his Twitter): LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. YOU HANDSOME SON OF A BITCH, YOU. Let’s build. God’s Plan. I see the vision.

Dan Rozel: Whatever Fitz said.

James Duffy: I think Quinn is a great hire for what the Rangers need right now. He’s dedicated his career thus far to helping young players develop at BU, and should be a great mentor on a rebuilding/young NYR roster.

Brett Herskowitz: I can’t complain about the hire at all. The Rangers needed to move in a different direction in the post-AV era and they’re doing just that by hiring Quinn. It’s nice seeing them go with a college coach who can (hopefully) do a great job of developing the young talent on the team. All in all, a smart move for the Blueshirts.

Buddy Peck: This might be the most important part of the Rangers rebuild. The young talent he and his staff molded at BU into top-notch NHL studs should make every Blueshirts fan smile thinking about what he can do with guys like Chytil and Andersson.

James Duffy: Big knock on Quinn so far has been that he’s a great recruiter but not a great coach, that idea worry you guys at all?

Brett Herskowitz: I honestly don’t know enough about Quinn to truly comment, but I have seen stuff about his in-game management. Like Fitz said, there’ll be growing pains. We just need to hope Quinn and the team gel from the get-go.

Jesse Finver: My reaction is: if this makes Fitz and Woj happy, then I’m happy. Conversely if they they hate it, then I hate it, AND THERE IS NO IN-BETWEEN.

Steve Angelovich: Hopefully this is a sign of better things to come for the Rangers. While the last run was exciting, it always felt like more could have happened. The young talent was never given the playing time they needed to provide the extra boost those Rangers teams could’ve used.

With Quinn, the young players should be the focus, unlike the last regime which seemed to punish anyone under the age of 27 simply for being young. It’s a rebuild, but Hank is still in net and they’ve got a new exciting coach in New York. Half the teams make the playoffs and anything can happen in the NHL.

Also, Quinn looks like he is in better shape than Marc Staal, are we sure Dolan knows he’s the coach and not another d-man?

Fitz: Haha he looks like Mitt Romney too.

Dan Rozel: HE LOOKS LIKE MITT ROMNEY. That’s who it is.

James Duffy: He looks like a game show host.

PAVEL BUCHNEVICH, COME ON DOWNNNNNNNNNNN!