Is Mike Sullivan the right coach for the Rangers?
One surprising yet unsurprising move was the New York Rangers’ hiring of Mike Sullivan as the 38th head coach in franchise history.
Sullivan is one of the more accomplished coaches in the NHL, having won two Stanley Cups in his tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins and been part of multiple coaching staffs on the international stage. What might have caught some people off-guard was how quickly Sullivan was hired by the Blueshirts, as he and the Penguins parted ways on Monday.
The question is, will things work out with Sullivan, a former assistant with the Rangers, and the current team in Manhattan? While he’s certainly a good coach, he wasn’t able to help the Penguins get out of the funk they’re in right now. The team has missed the playoffs in each of the last three years. Sullivan joins a team that also missed the postseason one year after winning the President’s Trophy, leading to the dismissal of Peter Laviolette.
On Friday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli explained whether Sullivan is the right guy to work in the Big Apple.
Frank Seravalli: I need to see what the roster looks like before I can give you a true definitive answer. I mean, a coach is only ever as good as his players. So, the Rangers need some serious surgery on their back end. They have to find a way to defend better in front of Igor Shesterkin, but he’s unquestionably one of the best coaches in the league. He did a great job at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Now, moving forward, I think the Rangers have a really good coach. Let’s see what roster he’s handed.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I expect GM Chris Drury, with that new extension under his belt, will probably be pretty aggressive this offseason.
Frank: I was going to say – when you talk about fit, there’s a relationship there, right? Mike Sullivan, if you think back to the end of Chris Drury’s career, was the assistant coach under John Tortorella. So, they did work together. [The] Relationship has only been enhanced over the years when you work together at something like 4 Nations. So, I think one of the big reasons why Mike Sullivan didn’t kind of move on from the Penguins last year, not only was Kyle Dubas still kind of getting his feet wet, but this opening wasn’t there. This decision to part ways is, I think, in lockstep with each other they’re not unrelated.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…