When the New York Rangers announced Mike Sullivan would be the team’s next head coach in place of Peter Laviolette, there were expectations that he would help turn things around immediately.

After the Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2023-24, they missed the playoffs the following year. Sullivan was brought in after that disappointment, and things only got worse in his first campaign at the helm, with New York finishing in last place in the Eastern Conference.

While Year 1 wasn’t great, the Rangers have been making strides when it comes to buying in and playing the kind of style that Sullivan believes can succeed on the ice. Given the dearth of offensive firepower and now the lack of an established goalie with Igor Shesterkin sidelined, Sullivan’s system must be executed properly.

He has done a great job of getting the team back on track, forging an identity for them to build their game plan upon. Sullivan wants New York playing an aggressive style that includes swarming the puck and maintaining defensive structure.

Mike Sullivan putting Rangers in position to succeed

It has led to some underwhelming performances, such as that of Pavel Dorofeyev, the team’s big offseason acquisition who is now skating on the third line. However, it is hard to argue with the overall results that have transpired.

As written by Vincent Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic (subscription required), “New York has gone from a team that allowed 2.68 goals against per 60 minutes at five-on-five (and 2.76 expected goals against per 60) in 2024-25 to 2.36 GA/60 (and 2.59 xGA/60) in 96 games under Sullivan, per Natural Stat Trick.”

There are still areas of the game that the team needs to clean up, but Sullivan is connecting well with this group. Defenseman Sean Durzi, one of the newcomers this season, spoke highly of the coaching staff and how prepared they are.

In his opinion, the right game plan is being put together by Sullivan and his staff to succeed on the ice; it is just up to the players to execute it, and the results will follow.

Mike Sullivan's system can work for Rangers

Sullivan has not been hesitant to point out things that are going awry during press conferences. When the performance of goalie Dylan Garand was brought up, he made sure to mention that it isn’t solely on him; the defensive structure in front of him hasn’t always been on point, leading to breakdowns and lapses.

Mitigating those kinds of mistakes is important because he and whoever is in goal, whether it is James Reimer or Joonas Korpisalo, isn’t going to perform at the level that Shesterkin did to put the team on his back.

However, this system has proven capable of being successful. The Rangers went 3-1-1 in the first five games without Shesterkin in the lineup, so the team can win games with Garand in net when their execution is on point.