Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports
With Alain Vigneault‘s contract finalized at five years for approximately $10 million total as the next New York Rangers head coach, rumors have been circulating of a possible hiring of a very famous and legendary Rangers ex-captain who was interviewed for the head coaching job but lost out in the end to Vigneault. This man is none other than The Captain himself, Mark Messier.
The headline should have at least given it away besides all the other clues in the above paragraph, but yes, Mess has been involved in numerous rumors as becoming the next Rangers assistant coach under Vigneault. If the newly appointed Rangers head coach and Rangers GM Glen Sather agree to ask Messier to become the new assistant coach for the team and he takes the job, what does this mean for The Messiah’s current position as Rangers special assistant to president and general manager?
Well in my opinion, Messier can still maintain his current front office position and be the Rangers assistant coach because Doug Weight currently holds the same two positions for the Rangers’ biggest rival, the New York Islanders.
Now do I think Mess will take the job? Well, the major reason why he is not the Rangers’ current head coach at the moment is because he has no previous coaching experience, not even as an assistant coach. So I think if asked, Messier will gladly jump at the opportunity to learn from Vigneault at one job, Sather at the other, and be behind the Rangers bench during games.
I absolutely love this idea and hope these rumors are true as I think most, if not all, Rangers fans would love Messier to be the Rangers next assistant coach. This is all contingent on if the Rangers fire their current assistant coach, Mike Sullivan, which is expected to happen any day now when the Rangers make the official announcement of their hire of Vigneault.
