New York Rangers Make Shock Decision To Healthy Scratch Rising Star

After a recent admission, it appears that Peter Laviolette's time in New York has come to an end, but with the team refusing to fire the Head Coach, he's still got the ability to make shocking decisions.

We saw another one of those on Wednesday, as Laviolette officially made former first-round pick Gabe Perreault a healthy scratch, despite the 19-year old impressing in three games thus far.

Sure, the Rangers are technically still alive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs race, but even so, their veteran core has been absolutely shocking in 2024/25, and with the chance to bring in a rising star like Perreault, it makes no sense to scratch him.

On social media, the fans made it very clear as well that this was the wrong decision, and after sitting through a year of pathetic play from Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider especially, this is a move that doesn't make much sense.

When asked about the decision, Laviolette explained that letting him sit and watch may be a way to get him some positive learning experiences early in his career.

In theory that makes sense, but for a team that's got a terrible core of underperforming veterans, there's nothing to lose by keeping Perreault in the lineup, and whether he gets back in or not this season, if he's not an every day player next season, massive changes are needed in New York.