 The NHA was replaced by the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1917–18 season, and in the first year of the new league Gerard scored 20 points in 20 games.This placed him eighth overall in the league, his highest career scoring finish in either the NHA or NHL.He served as the player-coach of the Senators from 1916 until 1918, when former Senators player Alf Smith was named coach; as captain Gerard was still given a major role in team affairs but was not given much coaching by Smith.