The N.Y. Rangers’ future, which “feels especially murky following this season’s top-to-bottom disappointment, will hinge” on the “partnership” between GM Chris Drury and newly hired coach Mike Sullivan, according to Vincent Mercogliano of the Rockland/Westchester JOURNAL NEWS. Sullivan “offers cause for optimism” because he is “not just another retread.” His reputation around the league is that of “a steady hand, strong communicator and culture-setter, with the Rangers in desperate need of all three.” The initial sentiment is that Drury has “made gains in each of those categories with this hire,” but the “real judgment is still to come.” Mercogliano wrote it is “critical” that Drury and Sullivan “are on the same page in their efforts” to “bridge the internal divide and reopen a fleeting window of contention.” They “face major challenges, beginning with upgrading a roster that’s tight on salary cap space and littered with hard-to-move contracts,” and “must be in lockstep to successfully navigate them.” Sullivan will “also be charged with facilitating better communication” and “improving the working environment within the Rangers’ facilities.” Mercogliano wrote this may be Drury’s “last chance to get this right.” Mercogliano: “It’s hard to imagine he’ll get to oversee a fourth coaching search, at least not any time soon.” He added it is also “sink-or-swim time with Sullivan, who stressed the need to ‘share the same vision and work towards the same goals’” (Rockland/Westchester JOURNAL NEWS, 5/8).
SAME SCRIPT? In N.Y., Larry Brooks noted former coach Gerard Gallant was 57 years old when hired to the Rangers after coaching multiple NHL teams and Peter Laviolette was 58 when he was hired under the same circumstances. Sullivan is 57 and has coached multiple NHL teams. Brooks: “Isn’t this the same old same old? Not quite and maybe not at all. Gallant had made three previous stops, not one lasting for more than parts of three seasons. Laviolette had five previous head coaching jobs in the league, the longest lasting five-and-a-half seasons and the immediate one prior to New York for three years. Sullivan, however, is coming off a 10-year run (nine-and-a-half seasons) with the Penguins in which his team won the Cup in each of his first two seasons behind the bench. He is only the sixth coach over the past four decades to have a tenure at least that long” (N.Y. POST, 5/7).
