Columbus Blue Jackets' former head coach Gerard Gallant has landed a new coaching job. It was announced earlier today that he will be heading overseas to Russia to coach the Shanghai Dragons of the KHL.
Gallant, 61, has spent time with the Blue Jackets as both an assistant coach and head coach, as well as with the New York Islanders and Montreal Canadiens as an assistant. He served as the bench boss for the Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights, and New York Rangers, up until 2022-23 when he was fired and his time in the NHL appeared to be over.
He now heads to the KHL to coach the Dragons, which will be his first head coaching job since leading Team Canada at the Spengler Cup last December.
Gallant has a record of 369-262-4-70 in 705 regular season games. As the head coach of the Blue Jackets from 2003 to 2007, he had a record of 56-76-4-6 in 142 games. His next head coaching opportunity would not come until 2014 with the Panthers. His best record as a bench boss came with the Golden Knights, where he posted a 118-75-20 mark in 213 games.
Gallant taking the coaching job with the Dragons is great to see. For him, it could be a way to show that he can still coach at the NHL level and potentially turn this opportunity into what could be his final NHL head coaching job if things go well.
