When the Rangers brought in Mike Sullivan as their new head coach, it was mostly viewed as a step in the right direction. Sullivan is a top three coach in the NHL and is known for strong defensive hockey without stifling his star offensive players. He won two Cups in Pittsburgh, his second with a questionable blue line at best. No one expected the Rangers to win a Cup in his first season, so he didn’t have those lofty expectations coming to New York. However he was expected to make the Rangers better, at least defensively, as they transitioned to a new core.
Mike Sullivan didn’t get off to a good start with the Rangers. Before the puck even dropped in training camp, he made one hated decision to bring in David Quinn as an assistant coach. Quinn did not fair well with the Rangers as a head coach, but there was still hope he could be fine as an assistant. Joe Sacco and Ty Hennes rounded out the coaching staff.
Of course we know how this season went for Mike Sullivan’s Rangers. The Rangers got off to a slow start, which was expected given the new coaching staff and switch to actual structure and a defensively minded system. The Rangers won just 5 games in October, but the metrics weren’t awful and it was clear the defensive portion of their game was improved. Things looked good with a 5-2-0 start to November, and then the wheels came off. The Rangers essentially went .500 through the rest of November and December.
From December 27 through the Olympic break, the Rangers lost 15 of 18 games, including an embarrassing 10-2 loss in Boston. There were many reasons for this, and most weren’t a result of poor coaching or lineup decisions. Both Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox got hurt early in that run, resulting in Spencer Martin and Jonathan Quick splitting starts. Braden Schneider moved to the top pair on an already rough Rangers blue line. This was added to whatever the issue was with JT Miller.
The Rangers closed out the season with a bit more enthusiasm, save for a 6 game losing streak in March. That streak was sandwiched between a 4 game win streak and a run of 4 wins in 5 games. So essentially it was .500 hockey for the Rangers to close out the year.
Mike Sullivan’s structure improved the defense significantly
Mike Sullivan and the Rangers coaching staff could only do so much about roster construction, though the team got a big boost after the Artemi Panarin trade, which seems odd to say. Scoring was the issue for the Rangers, not defense–in the grand scheme of things, of course. The Rangers scored just 238 goals last season, 22nd in the NHL. Their 250 goals allowed was actually 15th in the NHL. Not bad.
Diving deeper into team stats under Mike Sullivan, there’s a clear issue:
- CF/60: 54.7 (23rd)
- CA/60: 57.28 (15th)
- CF%: 48.85% (20th)
- xGF/60: 2.46 (26th)
- xGA/60: 2.55 (11th)
- xGF%: 49.11% (22nd)
- HDCF/60: 10.96 (20th)
- HDCA/60: 10.20 (5th)
- HDCF%: 51.79% (12th)
Defense wasn’t terrible under Mike Sullivan and was a significant improvement from last season’s train wreck. The issue was offense, as the Rangers simply couldn’t generate anything. They couldn’t get quantity or quality, resulting in them playing most of the game in their own end. Taking a step back, it’s a minor miracle that the Rangers weren’t caved-in defensively.
Lineup decisions were a question
One of the bigger gripes among the fanbase last year was Mike Sullivan’s roster decisions. Gabe Perreault wasn’t a staple in the top-six until the winter. Brett Berard and Scott Morrow got yo-yo’d all year. Carson Soucy and Will Borgen continued to get big minutes despite horrid results. JT Miller played through whatever he had, and was mostly atrocious until after the Olympics.
Prospect development is a tricky thing. Development is not linear. A strong showing in one season does not mean a strong showing in the next season. Brett Berard is the biggest focal point here, as he was solid in 2024-2025 but could not hold down a spot last season. Scott Morrow, a key piece in the K’Andre Miller trade, was never truly given a real shot last season on a crowded blue line. Brennan Othmann looked completely lost as well before his trade.
That said, the Rangers didn’t just sit and play veterans all season. Perreault stuck in the top six after the Panarin trade. Tye Kartye was claimed off waivers and made an impact immediately. Jaro Chmelar and Adam Sykora were called up and looked like they could stick for the coming season. Noah Laba stuck for the entire season. Dylan Garand looked fine in his first cuppa as well.
I believe Mike Sullivan and the rest of the coaching staff got a little too much hate on this topic. Othmann and Berard just didn’t work out, and Morrow was blocked–and is still blocked for now–by others in the organization. There are a few more spots for kids this coming season, so this needs more time to simmer before we can truly judge.
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