The Rangers don’t need to tear everything down for Mike Sullivan. They need him to make it work better.
That’s the real tension heading into his first season behind the bench in New York. Last year’s Rangers had a defensive shape that held together.
What they didn’t have was enough offense to go with it. Sullivan’s task is simple to say and harder to pull off: keep the structure that already has value, but find a way to make the team faster with the puck, better at holding the zone, and less one-dimensional in the way it wins games.
The backdrop to all of this goes back to May 15, 2022. That was the night Sullivan last coached a playoff game in the NHL, when his Pittsburgh Penguins dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Rangers in Game 7 of the first round at Madison Square Garden. Pittsburgh had been up 3-1 in the series before New York finished the comeback, sealed by an overtime goal from Artemi Panarin, who had once played for the Rangers.
At the time, nobody in Pittsburgh was thinking that would be Sullivan’s final postseason game for more than four years. A little more than three months later, the Penguins gave him a three-year extension that was supposed to run through the 2026-27 season.
That never played out the way either side expected. Pittsburgh missed the playoffs in each of Sullivan’s final three seasons there, and then he moved on to New York.
His first Rangers team finished 34-39-9, collected 77 points, scored 235 goals, allowed 249, and landed last in the Eastern Conference. That was eight points worse than the season before.
It’s easy to look at four straight playoff misses and draw a blunt conclusion, but the reality is messier than that. The first two misses came with teams that were still controlling play and hanging around in the race until late. His final year in Pittsburgh was different, shaped by injuries, roster turnover, and an organization that was heading in another direction.
That matters, because the question in New York is not whether Sullivan’s system is broken. The Rangers’ first season under him offered proof that parts of it still function. The question is whether he can adjust it enough to fit what this roster needs now.
And what it needs is not just a cleaner version of last year. It needs a better one.
In Other News...
Rangers Gave Fans Real Reason To Feel Good Before Bruins Opener
A strong night against the Islanders gave the Rangers a little preseason momentum as they headed toward the Boston Bruins and the start of games that count. New York jumped early and kept pouring it on in a 6-1 win, with Oliver Bjorkstrand, J.T. Miller, Tye Kartye, Will Cuylle and Mika Zibanejad all getting on the scoresheet while Adam Fox set the tone with three assists.
For a team trying to build some early confidence, it was the kind of performance that checked a lot of boxes without asking the staff to read too much into the result. The Rangers have now strung together two straight preseason wins, and after the offensive showing on Long Island, they have at least given their fans a reason to feel better about where things stand before the opener in Boston. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Still Have One Roster Decision Hanging Before Opening Night
The preseason ended on a high note for the Rangers, who rolled past the Islanders 6-1 with a lineup that looked awfully close to what they expect to roll out on opening night. Even with the win serving as a tidy finishing touch, the final roster remains unfinished, with two spots still open as the club heads into the last stretch before the regular season begins.
What makes the wait interesting is the shape of the roster itself. New York has already trimmed its camp group and is still staring at a shortage of clear center options, which has fueled the idea that the answer could come from outside the organization. The waiver wire is part of the conversation now, and the next move may say as much about the teams depth concerns as the preseason finale did about its top-end readiness. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Face One Season-Defining Question Heading Into 2026-27
The Rangers head toward 2026-27 with a much cleaner-looking backbone than they have had in recent seasons. Between Adam Fox, Vlad Gavrikov and Igor Shesterkin, the club has the kind of defensive and goaltending structure that can keep games manageable, and that is usually the starting point for any team trying to steady itself in the East.
Still, the real question is whether the rest of the roster can do enough to turn that stability into wins. New Yorks season could swing quickly depending on health and the growth of its younger forwards, with the gap between a playoff berth and a frustrating year likely resting on whether the offense finds enough consistency to support the pieces already in place. [Read more 🡒]