2026 Rangers Season Previews: The Coaching Staff

This article is part of an ongoing series of Rangers Season Previews, taking a close look at what we can, and should, expect from each member of the 2025-26 New York Rangers. To read other articles in this series, go here.

Last season, the New York Rangers entered the 2025-26 campaign with a completely new regime behind the bench. Well, not completely new. David Quinn, former head coach of the Rangers, returned as an assistant to Mike Sullivan—who had also spent time in his early career behind the Rangers bench—in his first season as head coach of the Blueshirts. Joining them were Joe Sacco and Ty Hennes as assistants, with Jeff Malcolm coaching the goaltenders.

Back for a second season, the pressure for this coaching staff to get this team back on track is certainly mounting. The Rangers are two years removed from their last postseason appearance, and the longer they go without getting back there, the more likely it becomes that things change.

Previous Performance

As Joe outlined in last year’s preview, here’s a brief summary of Sullivan’s accomplishments heading into last season.

Started his coaching career in Boston where he went 70-56-15-23 (yes, there were still ties in 2003). He made the playoffs once.

Ten years as head coach in Pittsburgh, making the playoffs seven of those years. He missed the playoffs his final three years with the Penguins.

Two-time Stanley Cup champion with Pittsburgh, winning back-to-back in 2015-2016.

Won 406 games with the Penguins.

A year later, we can add to that a 34-39-9 season with the Rangers that left them in the bottom of the Metropolitan Division, the Eastern Conference, and not far from last place in the league. Without question, it was not the start anyone expected the man who is regarded as one of the best coaches in the league to have. Granted, there is only so much a coach can do and, it bears repeating, the Rangers dealt with some significant injuries last season, namely their Vezina and Norris caliber goaltender and defenseman. Beyond that, the whole of the team simply wasn’t very good. 

However, a disappointing first year in New York mixed with the thrill of coaching Team USA to their first Olympic gold medal since 1980, should be all the fuel needed for the fire that is getting this Rangers team back on track. While there is still plenty of uncertainty regarding how good this team actually is, there’s no denying that they improved the roster this summer and should be capable of at least competing for a wildcard position. Sullivan and his assistant's job is to get the Rangers there this season. 

Expectations

From a systematic standpoint, I wouldn’t expect much to change. Sullivan is still going to run a very USA Hockey-style of play. He’s going to push his players to play the game with tenacity, urgency, speed, and structure. Forwards are expected to be hard on pucks, play a 200-foot game, and to get pucks on net. As for the defense, especially now with a completely revamped blue line, the expectation will be for them to move the puck, lead zone exits, and contribute offensively as much as they can.

From a personnel perspective, there are some things that are currently up in the air that will be for Sullivan and his staff to sort out. For starters, do they keep Gabe Perreault and Alexis Lafrenière on the line with Mika Zibanejad, or do they split the wingers and put one on the line with J.T. Miller? Whichever line Pavel Dorofeyev ends up on should be considered the team's top line. But on top of the question of which winger should play opposite him, you have to wonder who is better suited to be his center: Zibanejad or Miller? Then of course you have to configure the rest of the middle six: Do you put Oliver Bjorkstrand there? Or do you use Will Cuylle and put Bjorkstrand on a line with his former teammate Eeli Tolvanen? 

The defense pairs seem a bit easier to configure, but there are still some questions to be answered. Do you pencil in Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson on your second pair, or do you split them up to spread the talent throughout the pairings? Iif Alberts Smits makes the team to start the season, playing him with Durzi and putting Braden Schneider with Pettersson could make more sense. If it’s Matthew Robertson instead of Smits, you’re likely fine with a Schneider-Robertson third pairing. 

My best guess, with what we know of Mike Sullivan in mind, is for the line up to fill out as follows:

Dorofeyev - Zibanejad - Perreault
Lafrenière - Miller - Bjorkstrand
Cuylle - Laba - Tolvanen
Kartye - Veleno - Raddysh
Rempe

Gavrikov - Fox
Pettersson - Durzi
Smits/Robertson - Schneider
Vaakanainen/Morrow

Predictions

The good news is that there is a very small chance for this team to be worse than they were last year. It should be a safe bet to make that the Rangers will be better this season. The question is, how much better?

The fact of the matter is, coaching isn’t the problem. Mike Sullivan is one of the best coaches in the league, he’s exactly who the Rangers wanted, and he’s a proven winner that can bring the best out of just about anyone. The Rangers have also had five different coaches in the last decade. At their best, they’ve gotten within two wins of making it to the Stanley Cup Final. They did that with Gerard Gallant and with Peter Laviolette. They’ve also played some truly disappointing hockey at their worst with both of those coaches. While Gallant, Laviolette, and every other bench boss in the history of the sport has their faults, the success of the team is always going to ride on the ones actually playing the game. 

That being said, I truly don’t think there’s much Sullivan can set out to do that is going to make a significant difference in the outcome of this season. The Rangers need to stay healthy first and foremost. They need their top players to be at their best and perform, which we know that Sullivan is beyond capable of getting them to do.

One of Sullivan's most common "faults" is something most Rangers coaches have struggled with, and that's getting younger players their ice time over veterans who don't really deserve it anymore. (For example, playing Conor Sheary in the top nine over Adam Sykora, and Brett Berard, and Brennan Othmann. OK, I'll stop now.) It's still a bit too early to tell, but on paper, that shouldn't be as much of a problem this season.

It certainly seems like most, if not all, of the Rangers young talents are expected to start the year in the AHL, potentially spending the full season there. As long as the Rangers are winning hockey games, there's nothing wrong with that. But if Thanksgiving comes around and they're still a middle-of-the-pack team and guys like Liam Greentree, Brody Lamb, and Cole Beaudoin are tearing it up in the AHL, there's no reason not to give them their chances.

The only other thing that comes to mind for what Sullivan can do differently this year is trust his depth and hold players more accountable. When it comes to nursing injuries and playing through the grinds of the season, guys are built to go until they can't go anymore. In the event anyone, namely a veteran, is banged up and not looking to be 100 percent, there's no reason not to call up one of your waiver exempt rookies to give your guy a night off and that player a chance.

We watched J.T. Miller play half of last season essentially without a groin. Braden Schneider has spent more of his Ranger tenure without a properly functioning shoulder than he has with one. This team isn't a Cup contender at this moment. Especially now, with the extra two regular season games, if a guy isn't healthy then give him the night off. It's not always as simple as a quick call up, but the Rangers seldom carry a full 23-man roster to begin with. If there's any inkling that guys aren't 100 percent, call up the kids.

The Bottom Line

Sullivan laid the ground work for this team last season, and while it was a disaster in terms of the final record and the standings, you have to hope it's a minor setback-major comeback sort of thing. Sullivan has a track record worthy of our trust, while the pressure for this team to be better is building, the reality is things can't get much worse.

Trust the process, hold the team accountable, get the kids their chances when applicable, and just put the players in the right positions to be successful.