The big criticism I heard with Gallant is that he was stubborn when it came to playing the young talent beyond a fourth line "grind line" role. Having watched Lavy's roster decisions in DC, you'll find his use of the young guys... familiar.
I'm not a fan of his tenure in Washington. The Caps being my other team, I was extremely underwhelmed with Washington's performance during his time in DC.
That's fair. It definitely wasn't his best 3 years, but I think it's also partly because of where the caps are - just like the penguins they are on a downturn. I think he'll do better in New York. At the very least a step up from gallant.
Yeah wrong time for any coach on the caps. I also think management was overriding some of his decisions in order to get ovi goals and backy back on the ice. Didn't help much. The team I saw Nov to Dec, before Wilson and backstrom were back playing, dominated. They shifted a bunch of talent back to Hershey though.