The New York Rangers on Friday hired Mike Sullivan as their new head coach following his recent parting of ways with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Even before the hiring, many analysts seemed to be in lockstep that the former Rangers assistant is an ideal hire for a team looking to rebound from an awful campaign. However, is Sullivan really a slam-dunk choice?
Sullivan has been an unequivocal success as a head coach, with a pair of Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017 as well as division titles with the Penguins and with Boston back in 2004. But those successes are not exactly recent. The recently fired Peter Laviolette has a Stanley Cup, three Finals losses and five division titles to his name. Those baubles didn’t really help him much this past season, did they?
The 57-year-old Sullivan doesn’t have a whole lot of recent success to lean on, either. His Penguins have failed to make the Stanley Cup playoffs in the past three seasons — their last playoff appearance was a first-round loss to the Rangers after leading the series 3-1 — finishing seventh in the Metro division this past season.
In fact, Sullivan has just a single playoff series win since hoisting the chalice. It was a first-round win in 2018, the season after his last Stanley Cup win. For those not of a mathematical inclination, that means Sullivan has zero playoff series wins in the past seven seasons.
Despite boasting a roster with first-ballot Hall of Famers in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, as well as some seriously high-end supporting talent including Jake Guentzel, Phil Kessel, Bryan Rust, Erik Karlsson and Brian Dumoulin, Sullivan has proven unable to craft a group that could consistently challenge the best in the NHL. Yes, it’s fair to put some of that on former Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford and those who have followed his tenure in the big chair, but Sullivan certainly hasn’t overachieved.
In fact, it might be argued that even his cup victories could largely be attributed to the work done by Dan Bylsma, who molded the Penguins’ talented core into a championship-level roster before being let go in 2014.
The Rangers have a raft of youngsters vital to their present and future in Will Cuylle, Alexis Lafreniere, Braden Schneider, Brett Berard, Brennan Othmann and Gabe Perreault. Does Sullivan boast any significant track record of turning youngsters oozing with potential into stars? Yes, Guentzel immediately comes to mind, but is there anybody else? Rust might qualify. Matt Murray, perhaps? It’s not an overwhelming roll call.
GM Chris Drury was a player with the Rangers when Sullivan was an assistant over 15 years ago. The two certainly have a great relationship, which is no bad thing. But is this another play-it-safe hire?
If Drury gets this coaching hire wrong, he surely won’t get another one. In that light, it’s understandable that he looked at Sullivan as a trusted, steady hand. But did he miss the forest for the trees?
