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Gallant Fired Just Before He Was to Sign an Extension

Elliotte Friedman noted that Gerard Gallant was apparently just about to sign an extension with the Vegas Golden Knights before they fired him as their head coach. Who may pick him up now?

On the most recent 31 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman said he’d heard a rumor that Gerard Gallant was just about to sign an extension prior to be released by the Vegas Golden Knights.

Jeff Marek and Friedman started the podcast talking about how shocking it was that a coach who had his team just three points out of first place in the Pacific Division and a record of 118-75-20 with the franchise, was all of a sudden, out of a job. “I actually got a phone call from a coach who was really upset about Gallant getting fired because he was apparently very close to an extension,” Friedman said.

Friedman said he was actually prepared to work on the story of Gallant’s extension. “What I heard was, he had a three-year deal but his fourth year became guaranteed when they went to the final… next year he was going on year four and you don’t want the lame duck coach so you’re working on an extension, and the next thing you know, he’s gone.”

Friedman added that another coach told him though, Gallant was getting frustrated because the team was under-performing. This coach could see the stress building. Still, Friedman couldn’t believe the franchise would go from one extreme to another so fast.

Both Marek and Friedman agreed that this is an organization that demands a lot. The owner is very hands on and has high expectations. “There’s a lot of people in the organization with a lot of strong opinions,” Friedman said.

Related: Four Reasons Why the Ottawa Senators Shouldn’t Trade Anthony Duclair

All Will End Well for Gallant

It doesn’t seem fair, but Friedman noted there’s good news for the former Golden Knights coach.

Coaches salaries have exploded over the last few seasons so Gallant won’t be out much money. In fact, he might get a raise by the time all of this is said and done. Right now, the leading candidate to hire Gallant might be the Dallas Stars and a number of teams are keeping their options open.

Related: Why the Edmonton Oilers Should Go After Kasperi Kapanen

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