Rangers ready to turn page with Laviolette after playoff disappointment

STAMFORD, Conn. -- More than three months have passed and Chris Kreider still feels the pain of losing the way the New York Rangers did last season, bowing out in seven games against the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs a year after reaching the Eastern Conference Final.

"Like every guy on the team, I've got a pit in my stomach still and I expect that to turn into a bit of a chip on everyone's shoulders," Kreider said before participating in the Shoulder Check Showcase benefitting the HT40 Foundation on Thursday with several Rangers teammates. "We thought we had a good group. I still think we had a good group and we should have done better. We all know that."

The drive to be better will start in September, when the Rangers open their first training camp under new coach Peter Laviolette and begin to learn his style, the way he wants them to play.

Laviolette was hired June 13 to replace Gerard Gallant, who was fired by the Rangers on May 6, five days after they were eliminated by the Devils in a 4-0 loss at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

New York had high expectations throughout last season that soared once forwards Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane were acquired in separate trades before the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline.

That they didn't meet them led to the coaching change, and Laviolette has spent his first two months on the job calling players to get to know them.

"We haven't talked hockey at all, just kind of getting to know each other as people," forward Barclay Goodrow said. "I think he's a big believer in family and really cares about not only the player but the person behind the player. Just trying to build relationships."

Kreider said there's only so much you can glean from a phone conversation, but the players have an idea of what to expect from Laviolette.

The 58-year-old coached the Washington Capitals the past three seasons, playing against the Rangers 15 times, with New York going 8-7-0.

He has coached in the NHL since 2001 with 752 wins (eighth in NHL history) and a Stanley Cup championship (2006, Carolina Hurricanes).

Laviolette is one of four coaches to take three different teams to the Stanley Cup Final (2006 Carolina, 2010 Philadelphia Flyers, 2017 Nashville Predators).

His message in his introductory press conference was, "Let's go to work."

"My impression is that his teams have always been very hard to play against," Kreider said. "I recently remember the Washington team, but even with some of those Nashville teams, incredibly hard to play against."

Rangers defenseman Adam Fox said, "You never really know about the coach until you get to camp. I've heard nothing but good things and pretty excited when that time does come to obviously learn his structure and the way he coaches."

The returning Rangers players are as intrigued to see how the new players fit in.

New York signed forwards Blake Wheeler, Nick Bonino and Tyler Pitlick, defenseman Erik Gustafsson, and goalie Jonathan Quick to one-year contracts July 1. Each was an unrestricted free agent.

Wheeler will have a chance to have a role as a top-six right wing. Bonino and Pitlick are expected to be in the bottom six. Gustafsson will compete to play in the top six on defense. Quick will be the backup to Igor Shesterkin.

"We've played against them, but I don't know how they are on our team," center Mika Zibanejad said. "That's nerve wracking in a way and fun. They're good players that we've played against and in general players you'd rather have on your team. That's a good sign."

Kreider said Wheeler choosing New York after having the last year of his contract with the Winnipeg Jets bought out is a sign of how players around the NHL feel about the Rangers.

"He's a guy who has had a ton of success, he's had an outstanding career and he looks at our group and he says, 'Yeah, they're right there and I want to win a Cup,'" Kreider said. "That's quite the vote of confidence."

Even better, Goodrow said, is they will all be in the same situation when training camp opens.

"I've gone to different teams where the same coach is there and you're playing catchup trying to learn the systems, learn the coaching," Goodrow said. "But when it's everyone learning from the beginning at the same time we're all trying to dial in what he's teaching us and the way he wants us to play it makes it good. Training camp is where you get everything sorted out, figure everything out, and we're looking forward to what he has to teach us and just getting started."

It won't take the pain away from how last season ended, but that's OK too, Kreider said.

"I don't think that should go away," he said. "I think it should be something that drives you."