NY Rangers Finally Get Their Guy - Mike Sullivan Is Coming Back To Broadway

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As soon as the Penguins announced the organization & Mike Sullivan were going their separate ways it was a no-brainer where the two-time Cup winning coach was gonna land. Sully was a Rangers draft pick. He was behind the bench during Tortorella's reign as his right-hand man. Even when Gallant was hired in 2021 it was well known that Drury was waiting for Sullivan's availability to be confirmed before offering the gig to his Plan B. All the ties were there for the Blueshirts to finally get their man to finally get this squad over the hump. 

But is it too late?

It's a legitimate question, at least with this core as currently constructed. When Gallant and Laviolette were both hired they followed up instant success (2 wins from the Cup Final) with inexplicable failure & a pink slip. It's optimistic but fair to say this squad is still capable of rebounding as one of the best teams in the league - but it's equally fair to say they're not getting any younger and perhaps those two ECF seasons were as far as they can go, regardless of who's manning the white board. Can't reconstruct an entire roster all at once though so it's gonna be up to Sullivan to get the most out of these Rangers pieces before it's rebuild time. And none of those pieces are Sidney Crosby.

Still, this Blueshirts roster is significantly better than what Sullivan had to work with this past season & the Pens underlying metrics were actually excellent in terms of 5x5 offense - something that has always been a struggle for New York. The Penguins were top-10 in 5x5 Corsi percentage, expected goals-for per-60, scoring chances & high-danger chances per-60. They were just heavily done in by a lack of scoring depth & some abysmal goaltending. Meanwhile, the Rangers habitually out-perform their poor 5x5 metrics because of their high skill level. So if Sullivan can implement a system that gives a boost to his new squad at even strength then things are looking up.

He'll certainly be getting an upgrade between the pipes, but it's blatantly obvious the Rangers biggest concern is playing some semblance of defense. And I'm not even talking about establishing a championship-caliber level. I'm simply talking about pulling themselves out of the NHL's defensive cesspool. To put into perspective how bad the Blueshirts were defensively, the Blackhawks and Sharks both had better high-danger against rates at 5x5. Those are both barely NHL-caliber rosters. New York finished bottom-5 in shots against, expected goals-against & scoring chances against per-60. Equally as important as the Sullivan hire is gonna be who he brings with him to remedy this underachieving disaster of a back end. K'Andre & Schneider playing to their ceilings might be the most crucial part of any potential team turnaround.

Which brings things full circle. Yeah, Sullivan is a great coach. Incredible track record & I'm excited to see whether his leadership will be the difference-maker. But Gallant had success. Laviolette is closing in on 900 wins & has the third-highest winning percentage among the ten winningest coaches of all time. This core has had excellent "almost-but-not-quite" campaigns under two pretty different but successful shot-callers before holding their necks to the guillotine the very next year. They haven't been led by trash. Is Mike Sullivan the drastic change that takes this group to the moon? Does it really matter who's behind the bench of a roster comprised of Zibanejad, Panarin, Lafreniere, Kreider, K'Andre, etc. unless they moonlight as a cardiologist who's gonna spearhead a bunch of offseason heart transplants? Or maybe an orthopedic surgeon with some spare spines laying around? Will an established coach from a win-now environment that mortgaged the future annually help or hinder the development of kids like Perreault, Othmann & Berard under similar win-now circumstances? Guentzel's the only U25 player who made an impact under his watch and he didn't pop until he was 24.

The Rangers got their guy. A guy who just left a situation where an organization tried squeezing every last drop of a much better core (in their primes) for far too long. Some might say the Rangers are at that crossroads. Let's not forget that Sullivan hasn't coached in the playoffs since the Blueshirts erased a 3-1 first round series deficit in 2022, and he hasn't won a playoff series since the first round of 2018. 0-5 in playoff series since then with an 8-19 record. Here he is again, with an aging core in different color sweaters but this time no generational superstar & indisputable locker room leader to carry an entire franchise. Make no mistake, this is just as much of a reclamation/prove it opportunity for the coach as it is for these players. That puts them all in the same foxhole together though and that's exactly what these New York Rangers need.

VIVA LA BLUESHIRTS!!!!