The New York Rangers announced they is hiring Mike Sullivan as their 38th head coach in franchise history.
The 38th Head Coach in #NYR history.
Welcome (back) to Broadway, Sully! pic.twitter.com/dUhWCBPm4A
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) May 2, 2025
This announcement that Sullivan will be named the next Rangers head coach should not shock anyone. Once Sullivan parted ways the Pittsburgh Penguins, everyone connected the dots to New York. Rangers General Manager Chris Drury, who had just gotten a contract extension himself, had wanted Sullivan for a long time.
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There had been reports that Drury was looking to hire Sullivan before they settled on Gerard Gallant. He even wanted to get Sullivan before hiring Peter Laviolette. Laviolette and Galant have since moved on because of failures in their second year. But the pieces were being put into place once the Penguins decided to go in another direction.
Yesterday afternoon things started to pick up between Sullivan and the Rangers
The #NYR haven’t confirmed or announced anything officially yet, but it sounds like things are getting close and very much trending toward Mike Sullivan becoming the 38th head coach in franchise history.
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) May 1, 2025
As games progressed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, reports began to surface that Sullivan was going to join the New York Rangers.
The New York Rangers are in advanced contract talks to name Mike Sullivan head coach, sources told @KevinWeekes & me. It is expected to be one of the richest coaching contracts in NHL history.
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) May 1, 2025
Rangers GM Chris Drury in the Press Release: “Mike Sullivan has established himself as one of the premier head coaches in the NHL,” Drury said. “Given his numerous accomplishments throughout his coaching career – including two Stanley Cups and leading Team USA at the international level – Mike brings a championship-level presence behind the bench. I’ve gotten to know Mike very well over the years, including as teammates in the 1997 World Championships, when he coached me as a player in New York and through our shared time working together with USA Hockey. As we began this process and Mike became an available option for us to speak with, it was immediately clear that he was the best coach to lead our team.”
NHL Rumors: Breaking Down the Coaching Openings And Where Things Stand
Mike Sullivan was one of the most accomplished coaches available on the market. He guided the Pittsburgh Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 2016 and 2017. However, the Penguins did not make the playoffs the last three seasons and have not won a playoff round since 2018.
Sullivan has a record of 409-255-89 in 753 regular season games. He also served as an assistant coach with Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks before becoming the guy in Pittsburgh. There are some questions about the staff and there is a chance John Tortorella, who was on his staff for Team USA at the Four Nations will join him in New York.
My source added Dolan is a fan of Tortorella and wanted to bring him on board in some capacity… what that was wasn’t specified so I’d said joining.
Now @KevinWeekes and @emilymkaplan reporting he’s a possibility to rejoin the org as Sullivan takes over as head coach.
We’ll see https://t.co/3RTA6xEOe8
— Sammi Silber ? (@sammisilber) May 1, 2025
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However, while Tortorella talked to the Rangers about re-joining them, he ultimately decided against it.
John Tortorella did speak with the Rangers but will not be re-joining after all.
Believe Sullivan’s contract is for five years – and is the highest annual salary for a coach in NHL history.
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) May 2, 2025
Outside of the staff, the next question will be what the team does moving forward with players like Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, K’Andre Miller, and others as they look to reshape the culture. Getting the coach helps set that culture.
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