Rangers Announce Sacco, Quinn, & Hennes To Join Mike Sullivan’s Coaching Staff

Just one month and a couple of days after the New York Rangers announced that Mike Sullivan would be the new head coach, the rest of the coaching staff has been determined. With Dan Muse taking over as the Penguins' head coach and Michael Peca joining the Blackhawks as an Assistant, the Rangers have completely revamped their coaching staff for the 2025-26 season.

Joining Sullivan behind the Rangers bench will be former Rangers head coach David Quinn, as well as Joe Sacco and Ty Hennes—all of which, have connections to either Boston University, like Sullivan and Chris Drury, or Boston College. 

Joe Sacco 

A Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick in 1987, Joe Sacco played in 738 games throughout his career with the Leafs, Ducks, Islanders, Capitals, and Flyers. Following his playing career, Sacco became an assistant coach for a minor league affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche and eventually, became the head coach of their AHL team the Lake Erie Monsters. Sacco took over as the Avalanche’s head coach in the 2009-10 season after Tony Granato was fired and managed to get them to the playoffs despite being a basement dwelling team up to that point. That was enough to land him a Jack Adams nomination but after four seasons in Colorado, was let go and joined the Sabres as an assistant. 

Beginning in 2014, Sacco joined the Bruins as an assistant and was promoted to associate before eventually taking over for Jim Montgomery, who was let go just this season. Sacco was given the interim title but the Bruins decided to go in a different direction, hiring Marco Sturm just this morning. 

Ty Hennes

Likely the lesser known of the three coaches, Ty Hennes spent several seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins as a skills coach before eventually becoming one of Sullivan’s assistant’s behind the bench. A guy who really came up through working with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Hennes also has USA Hockey ties as he’s served as an assistant coach for the USA Men’s National Team and worked with USA Hockey prior to joining the Penguins organization. Hennes played four years at Boston College in the early 2000s’ and went on to sign with the Detroit Red Wings but only ever played in the ECHL and CHL. 

David Quinn 

Last but certainly not least, Rangers fans are already well acquainted with David Quinn, as he spent three years as the Rangers head coach between 2018-21. Quinn got his start as an assistant at Northwestern before making his way back to Boston University where he eventually served as head coach for five years. The Rangers originally brought him in as a first time NHL head coach to be a younger, new-aged voice to lead a team that was in the early stages of a rebuild. Then the Rangers had Artemi Panarin fall into their laps, expedited the rebuild, and Quinn couldn’t keep his head above water which led to his abrupt firing after the infamous Tom Wilson incident in 2021. 

Ironically, this comes as a surprising and yet not surprising hire. It’s no secret that Drury has ties to David Quinn, as does Mike Sullivan. David Quinn coached Team USA at the Olympics in 2022 and got a second chance behind an NHL bench with the San Jose Sharks as their head coach in 2023. After two seasons, the Sharks let Quinn go where he joined his good buddy and former BU teammate Mike Sullivan on the Penguins’ coaching staff. Prior to this breaking, there were rumors that Quinn could follow Sullivan back to New York and as it turns out, that's exactly what happened.

It isn't clear what each of the Assistant Coaches' roles will be as it appears they will decide over the summer.