Rangers legend Henrik Lundqvist breaks silence on Mike Sullivan's hiring with powerful wake-up call to rest of New York

The New York Rangers went all in ahead of the 2025–26 NHL season, hiring Mike Sullivan as their next head coach in New York City after a dramatic and disappointing campaign. Before the Sullivan era gets underway in Manhattan, Hall of Famer and Rangers legend Henrik Lundqvist shared a heartfelt statement about the hiring.

Lundqvist is perhaps the greatest player in Rangers history to never hoist the Stanley Cup—perhaps in the entire NHL. Despite missing the most important (some may say the only important) trophy in hockey, ‘King Henrik’ is a legend in Broadway.

Lundqvist is the Rangers’ all-time leader in wins (with 459 victories), shutouts (with 64 perfect outings), and games played (887 outings). Thus, his thoughts on the brand-new coach in New York City, Sullivan, help paint a clear picture on the hiring’s implications.

Sullivan is back in Manhattan, where he served as an assistant coach in John Tortorella’s coaching staff from 2009 to 2013. During his stay in The Big Apple, Sullivan worked alongside Lundqvist, having their best season during the 2012-13 campaign, when they reached the Eastern Conference Final. As Sullivan finds his way back to NYC, Lundqvist dropped an honest admission.

Head coach Mike Sullivan looks on during the first period of the Pittsburgh Penguins game against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on October 29, 2022.

The King has spoken

“I loved playing for [Sullivan], he was great. [He sent] clear messages. Obviously, it’s very different to be an assistant coach versus [being] a head coach, I never had him as a head coach,” Lundqvist admitted during an interview with The New York Post. “But back then I thought there was such a great tandem between [Tortorella and Sullivan], as a team they had a lot of success.

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“I think it’s a great hire, I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do with this current Rangers team. We’ll see how it plays out in the fall, but I think he has all the qualities.“

Players must do their part

While Lundqvist gave Sullivan a powerful confidence vote ahead of his return to the organization in the city that never sleeps, he made something clear to the players, who are coming off one of the franchise’s most turbulent seasons in recent years.

“Everybody has work to do, it doesn’t matter if you win or not,” Lundqvist added. “Sometimes you go into summer where you’re just a little more motivated to do a little bit extra, and maybe this is one of those summers.”