Mike Sullivan was not going to delve into what he thought went wrong with the New York Rangers when they nosedived from Presidents\u2019 Trophy winners in 2024 to missing the playoffs entirely in 2025, but the new head coach\u2019s first challenge \u2014 even a priority \u2014 is to get a fractured franchise moving in the same direction once again.
\n\u201cI know there\u2019s a lot of talent in the dressing room, but as we all know, talent alone doesn\u2019t win championships. Teams win championships,\u201d Sullivan said during his introductory press conference on Thursday. \u201cThat\u2019s going to be our challenge from Day 1: To become a team in a true sense of the word. That was the challenge, I think most organizations go through when they enter training camp every single year. We\u2019re no different in that regard.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are not many other coaches who are more qualified to turn the Rangers\u2019 ship around than Sullivan. During a decade-long stint as the Pittsburgh Penguins\u2019 bench boss, he won two straight Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, and had countless battles with the Blueshirts as Metropolitan Division rivals.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re a really talented group, and they\u2019ve been knocking on the door to the Stanley Cup for a number of years now,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cEvery time we\u2019ve played against this group of players, they\u2019ve been fierce. There have been fierce battles. I\u2019ve grown so much respect for the talent that the Rangers have\u2026 Having been on an opposing team\u2019s bench and having played the Rangers inside the division for all these years, I\u2019ve grown a ton of respect for the players that are in that room and the talent that they have. The opportunity to work with a group like that certainly excites me.\u201d<\/p>\n
A culture change seems to be necessary, though, and general manager Chris Drury is certainly hoping for just that with Sullivan\u2019s arrival.
\nThe two have been teammates, colleagues, and friends for nearly 30 years, and a healthy relationship between head coach and GM could subdue some of the concerning trends that have leaked from the Rangers\u2019 ranks in the last year, including reports of a toxic work environment and personnel decisions that have not sat well with players in the locker room.
\nThe Rangers\u2019 head-coaching gig has also been a revolving door. Sullivan will be the team\u2019s fourth different head coach in the last six years. Following the dismissal of David Quinn, both Gerard Gallant and Peter Laviolette did not get to see Year 3 with New York despite each of them leading the team to an Eastern Conference Final.<\/p>\n
Sullivan can help buck that trend if his relationship with Drury is as collaborative as the GM teases it to be.
\n\u201cThere are no transactions or trades or call-ups that management does without speaking with the head coach,\u201d Drury said. \u201cThat\u2019s not going to change here. In the other sense of that, Mike is going to come to me and say, \u2018What do you think of this? I\u2019m thinking about this with the lineup. I\u2019m thinking about that with the power play.\u2019 We\u2019re in constant communication. We already have been in the short week, and I think it\u2019ll be a great partnership in every sense of the word.\u201d<\/p>\n
In conclusion, Mike Sullivan\u2019s first challenge as the New York Rangers head coach is to transform the team into a cohesive unit, where every player works together towards a common goal. With his experience and the collaborative relationship with GM Chris Drury, Sullivan is well-equipped to lead the Rangers back to success.<\/p>\n
Q: What is Mike Sullivan\u2019s first challenge as the Rangers head coach?
\nA: To become a team in the true sense of the word.
\nQ: What is the key to Sullivan\u2019s success with the Rangers?
\nA: A collaborative relationship with GM Chris Drury and his ability to transform the team into a cohesive unit.
\nQ: How many Stanley Cups has Sullivan won as a coach?
\nA: Two straight Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 with the Pittsburgh Penguins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to the Challenge Mike Sullivan was not going to delve into what he thought went wrong with the New York Rangers when they nosedived from Presidents\u2019 Trophy winners in 2024 to missing the playoffs entirely in 2025, but the new head coach\u2019s first challenge \u2014 even a priority \u2014 is to get a fractured […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":17499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.amny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screen-Shot-2025-05-08-at-3.50.30-PM.jpg?quality=51&w=384&w=384&resize=384,229&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17498"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17498"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17500,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17498\/revisions\/17500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}