Instead, Sullivan has had the Rangers’ worst season in decades. Instead of bouncing back, the Rangers proved last season was no fluke and fell all the way to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. The only upside this season is that the Rangers might finish far enough in the standings to have a shot at a much-needed top-five draft pick.
Yet that is 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 were terrible. Few players are fulfilling their expected potential, and last year’s mess has not only continued, but worsened.
Even worse, Sullivan’s former employer, the Pittsburgh Penguins, hired Rangers assistant coach Dan Muse and has improved a lot since then.
All of this makes me wonder if the Rangers made the wrong decision. In retrospect, this would obviously be the wrong decision, as virtually no one complained when the Rangers hired Sullivan, but it’s a good thing to be concerned about. One of the reasons the Penguins let Sullivan walk so easily was because they weren’t confident he would be the best coach to lead them through their expected rebuild/retool. Now the Rangers hope he can be the best coach to help them do that.
The initial results are not encouraging. Sullivan continues the trend of Rangers coaches completely prioritizing veterans over young players, further harming their development. While a forward like Alexis Lafreniere hasn’t done himself any favors, every time he’s started to gain some momentum, Sullivan has gotten in his way by taking away ice time and/or power play time. Gabe Perreault, Brett Berard and Brennan Othmann have been up and down, scratched and inconsistent.
I’ve spilled far too many words about why I don’t believe Chris Drury is the man to lead the Rangers from an organizational standpoint, but Mike Sullivan is starting to convince me that he’s just another Chris Drury behind the bench. Considering the long-term contract the Rangers gave Sullivan, I certainly hope I’m wrong.
We will see in the coming years. For all we know, Sullivan will realize this team isn’t a playoff team and adjust accordingly. Perhaps the roster is changing so much that Sullivan is forced to let the youth take over. If not, the rebuild (or supposed redesign) will suffer with Sullivan behind the bench. That was never the plan when the Rangers made the obvious hire.
#Mike #Sullivan #coach #reorganization