The Rangers have spent the first stretch of the season looking like a team that finally knows exactly who it is, and Mike Sullivan is a big reason why.
New York is 4-1-0, with the lone blemish coming in the season opener against the Boston Bruins, when a bad three-minute stretch kept the Rangers from starting 5-0-0. That record only tells part of the story. The bigger takeaway is how connected this group has looked, and how quickly Sullivan has pushed them into a more competitive, more coherent version of themselves.
That matters because the Rangers entered the year with plenty of skepticism hanging over them. They won the Presidents' Trophy in 2023-24, then missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, with last year described as a huge disaster fueled by key injuyries.
The roster still carried elite names like Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox, but talent alone had clearly stopped being enough. The team’s recent struggles also pointed to a locker room that never felt fully aligned, which is part of why the changes this offseason brought players like Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck out while newcomers like Pavel Dorofeyev came in to Broadway.
So far, the difference has been obvious. The Rangers are playing like a unit, not a collection of names.
They’re sticking up for each other more. They look like a group that actually wants to be in the same fight.
That shift has Sullivan’s fingerprints all over it, and it’s the kind of early-season turnaround that puts a coach squarely in the Jack Adams conversation.
There’s also been real growth from key players around him. Offseason acquisition Sean Durzi has been better than advertised, with a goal in the first five games and a noticeable aggressive edge across the ice.
Vladislav Gavrikov has kept playing well and looks even more comfortable in his second season in New York. Eeli Tolvanen, signed late, already has three goals, while former Seattle Kraken teammate Oliver Bjorkstrand added two goals against the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
Marcus Pettersson is another newcomer tied closely to Sullivan, brought in because of his history with the Rangers’ bench boss. That connection says plenty about how much more say Sullivan appears to have in shaping the roster. It also fits the larger picture: he has long been known for helping defensemen take a step forward, and that same effect seems to be showing up in New York.
That’s why this start feels bigger than just a hot opening week. Sullivan has addressed the Rangers’ biggest problems and gotten more out of his players in the process.
Doing that for one of the NHL’s most recognizable franchises only strengthens the case. It gives voters a storyline they tend to like, and a turnaround that could carry real weight if it keeps building.
It’s still early, but the job Sullivan has done has been impressive. If this keeps up, he’ll be very hard to ignore in the Jack Adams race.
In Other News...
Alexis Lafrenire Just Became The Face Of This Rangers Surge
The Rangers latest surge kept rolling at home with a 5-2 win over the Islanders, their fourth straight victory, and it came with a little bit of everything the building could have asked for. Cole Beaudoin made his NHL debut after being recalled because Joe Veleno was sidelined by injury, while Semyon Varlamov got his first regular-season start in 676 days after going through knee surgeries. It was the kind of night that felt like another small marker for a team trying to stack wins and settle into something sturdier.
Alexis Lafrenire was at the center of it again, driving the offense in a game where the Rangers looked increasingly comfortable pressing the pace and closing it out. His latest performance only added to the sense that New York has found a reliable front-facing spark during this run, especially with the way the wins are starting to come in different forms. The bigger question now is whether this stretch is the start of something more lasting, with Lafrenire right in the middle of it. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Face A Different Capitals Threat In Ovechkins Final Run
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Ovechkins final NHL run gives every meeting with Washington a little extra weight, even as the Capitals have quietly adjusted their look up front. With new faces around the roster and a franchise icon in his last lap, the matchup carries both the usual division stakes and a hint of transition, making the Rangers next check-in with the Caps feel like more than just another early-season game. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Finally Have A Start Fans Can Feel Better About
Alexis Lafrenire kept giving the Rangers the kind of start they have been looking for, scoring three times and adding an assist in a 5-2 win over the Islanders that pushed the clubs winning streak to four games. Oliver Bjorkstrand chipped in with two goals of his own, while Mika Zibanejad set the table with three assists in a game that gave New York a little more breathing room and a little more confidence.
The Islanders also got a notable return in goal, with Semyon Varlamov back in NHL action after knee surgeries, but the Rangers were able to keep pressure on and finish the job. For a team trying to build something steadier early, this was the kind of result that can matter beyond the standings, especially with the offense spreading the workload and the group looking more settled than it has at other points this season. [Read more 🡒]