When the New York Rangers hired Mike Sullivan to replace Peter Laviolette, many were thrilled. Sullivan, a former back-to-back Stanley Cup winning coach, felt like a huge upgrade from Laviolette, and a potential overseer of a comeback season. Sullivan was the right coach to bring the Rangers back from their blip of a season and get the most out of this veteran core.
Instead, Sullivan has seen the Rangers worst season in decades. Rather than coming back, the Rangers proved last season was no fluke, falling all the way to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. The only plus this season has been that the Rangers might finish far enough down the standings that they will have a shot at a much-needed top-five draft pick.
Still, that’s not what the Rangers hired Sullivan for. When he was hired, the idea was that he would help a struggling team find their focus and win some games. Instead, the Rangers have been awful. Few players are playing to their expected potential, and the mess of last year has not only continued, but it’s worsened.
Even worse, Sullivan’s former employer, the Pittsburgh Penguins, hired Rangers Assistant Coach Dan Muse away, and have since become much improved.
All of this leads me to wonder if the Rangers made the wrong decision. It would of course be the wrong decision in hindsight, as essentially no one complained when the Rangers hired Sullivan, but it’s a fair thing to worry about. One of the reasons the Penguins let Sullivan walk away so easily was that they were unsure he would be the best coach to lead them through their expected rebuild/retool. Now, the Rangers are hoping he can be the best coach to help them do just that.
The early results haven’t been encouraging. Sullivan continues the trend of Rangers coaches completely prioritizing veterans over young players, further serving as a detriment to their development. While a forward like Alexis Lafreniere has done himself no favors, any time he’s started to get some momentum, Sullivan has stood in his way by taking ice time and/or powerplay time away. Gabe Perreault, Brett Berard, and Brennan Othmann have been up and down, scratched, and inconsistent.
I’ve spilled far too many words on why I don’t believe Chris Drury is the man to lead the Rangers from an organizational standpoint, but Mike Sullivan has started convincing me that he’s no more than another Chris Drury behind the bench. Given the long-term contract the Rangers gave Sullivan, I’m sure hoping I’m wrong.
In the next few years, we will see. For all we know, Sullivan will see that this team is not a playoff team and will adapt accordingly. Maybe the roster will change so much that Sullivan is forced to allow the youth to take over. If not, the rebuild (or supposed retool) will suffer with Sullivan behind the bench. That was never the plan when the Rangers made the obvious hire.