With Gabriel Perreault set to make his season debut with the Rangers, Sullivan knows the transition to the NHL can be a lot to take for the young talent. However, pressure makes diamonds, and such a gem is just what the franchise in New York City might need in crucial times.

Perreault made his NHL debut last season, when Peter Laviolette and the Rangers’ brass called him up for the final games of the campaign. All hope had been lost in the Big Apple, and the Broadway Blueshirts turned to their most exciting prospect from the pool of up-and-coming talents, hoping to give fans a reason to attend the otherwise meaningless games. However, Laviolette and his staff assigned Perreault to a bottom-six role, virtually eliminating any real chance for him to showcase his abilities in the NHL. Now, Sullivan is taking a completely opposite approach.

“Our intention is to try to set [Perreault] up for success so he can play with strengths,” Sullivan told media after Monday’s morning skate per Newsday Sports’ Colin Stephenson. “So in other words, I don’t know that it makes a whole lot of sense to call a player up like that and put him on in the bottom six role.”

No worries

As Perreault makes his first NHL appearance of the season—sixth of his career—the 20-year-old will be searching for his first career point. Through five games with the Rangers last season, the former 23rd overall pick in 2023 was held scoreless.

Being surrounded by the best players in the lineup, he hopes for better luck this time around. Moreover, Perreault is fully healthy, as he admitted his recent missed games in the AHL are nothing fans or the team should be stressing about.

“It was nothing bad. It was just a precautionary thing, and I’m good to go,” Perreault told media in New York, as reported by The Athletic’s Vince Mercogliano.

Less is more

The Rangers are anxious to snap the losing streak at home. Being winless after seven games at Madison Square Garden, it’s easy to see why New York is playing with such urgency in front of its fans. In line with J.T. Miller’s honest confession exposing the team’s struggles, Sullivan believes such mindset is not doing the team any favors.

“I think our guys want to win at home so badly that sometimes they’re trying too hard. And that can cloud judgment, decision-making. It has a ripple effect on players, and that’s the human element of sports,” Sullivan admitted. “It may appear as though, ‘Hey, they’re not trying hard.’ When my experience has been with players, it’s just the opposite. But it’s not instinctive, because they’re trying to force things. They’re pressing, and that’s our challenge, is to help each other through that process.”

Hope, at last

With Perreault joining the mix, the Rangers may be fueled by the young talent’s energy. The rookie winger can bring much-needed winds of change to the locker room in hopes of turning the NHL season around. Otherwise, the Blueshirts seem destined for the basement. Now, a bright beacon of hope shines over New York City’s skyline—and it comes in the form of a 20-year-old rookie born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, 411 miles away from the Big Apple.

Bedard and the Blackhawks had been waiting for quite some time to learn about their new bench boss, and an announcement was finally made by the organization. Blashill is now the 42nd head coach in franchise history, succeeding Luke Richardson and interim coach Anders Sorensen, who will stay as an assistant coach in the Windy City.

Though Sorensen is set to remain in Chicago, Kevin Dean, who did a great job developing the team’s defensemen, is expected to move on into new horizons and challenges. However, Blashill has already found a replacement for Dean, bringing in a key assistant coach in New York.

Filling his void will be Michael Peca, the former two-time Frank J. Selke Trophy winner and former assistant coach for the Rangers during Laviolette‘s tenure in New York City.

With Peca’s arrival, Bedard and the rest of Chicago’s forwards could take significant steps toward playing a full 200-foot game—becoming key contributors at both ends of the ice and helping Blashill’s squad evolve beyond the bottom-feeding identity fans have grown used to in recent years.

Closing in on Penguins assistant

Blashill and the Blackhawks are not done making moves and twitches to their coaching staff, as reports indicate the arrival of another assistant coach is already in the works. And, apparently, Bedard’s Hawks are targeting a former staff member from Mike Sullivan and Sidney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins.

“Another assistant coach is to be named, Mike Vellucci [former assistant under Mike Sullivan in Pittsburgh] has been in the running,” insider David Pagnotta stated on his X account.

Rest assured

While the hiring of Blashill wasn’t immune to the noise surrounding the franchise on 1901 W Madison St in Chicago, general manager Kyle Davidson delivered a firm vote of confidence to the brand-new bench boss in Chi-town.

“Jeff [Blashill] is an incredibly smart and talented coach who boasts more than 25 years of coaching experience across developmental leagues, the NHL and the world stage,” Davidson stated. “He’s thrived when in a position to develop young players and has shown he’s capable of blending that into overall team success, a vision and philosophy we share for where we are today and where we see our team in the future. We couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come under Jeff’s direction.”

Davidson’s statement perfectly reflects the Blackhawks’ mindset heading into the 2025–26 NHL season. They aren’t chasing silverware just yet—they want to see their young players blossom and further solidify their status as starters and potential stars. That will be the measuring stick by which Blashill is judged.

The Rangers are hoping to move on from their last NHL season, for which disappointing would be a massive understatement. After winning the Presidents’ Trophy during the 2023-24 campaign, the Blueshirts missed the postseason the very next season.

Urgent times require immediate reactions, and it’s made clear general manager Chris Drury doesn’t shy away from making drastic decisions. Thus, the Rangers fired Laviolette, signing two-time Stanley Cup champion, Sullivan, to replace him behind the bench.

Sullivan has more than enough experience coaching in the Metropolitan Division. And, even though, he guided the Pittsburgh Penguins to just one divisional title in the regular season, his postseason success has far eclipsed that stat.

As Sullivan enters the organization in Manhattan amid their most turbulent times in recent years, the 57-year-old bench-boss has made something clear to Shesterkin and the stars on the roster immediately upon arrival, while taking a subtle shot at Laviolette’s work.

“As we all know, talent alone doesn’t win championships. Teams win championships,” Sullivan boldly stated during his introduction as head coach in New York. “I think that’s going to be our challenge from Day 1, is to become a team in the true sense of the word.

“I can’t really comment on what’s evolved here in the past. All I can speak to is what we can potentially build here moving forward.”

Aftermath

Sullivan’s comments are far from cliché, they are carefully tailored to the Rangers’ situation as they head into the NHL offseason with several question marks floating around at Madison Square Garden.

For starters, Sullivan has entered an acephalous locker room without a named captain for the upcoming campaign. After Jacob Trouba’s trade to the Anaheim Ducks, the Blueshirts witnessed their captain’s departure, and that role has been vacant since, with many new voices emerging and making their candidacy clear to wear the ‘C’ for the Rangers next season.

“I think that’s a discussion that I’ll have with Chris [Drury] here moving forward, we haven’t got that far quite honestly,” Sullivan said when asked about whether a captain has been decided yet. “The one takeaway that I have from those conversations is I think there’s a fair amount of leadership in that room. So, whether you wear a letter or you don’t wear a letter, leadership manifests itself in so many different ways.”

Reunited with the Americans

Last season, Vincent Trocheck became one of the most powerful leaders in the locker room during the roughest stretches of the year. However, his is not the only name in contention.

What appears clear is that the next captain in New York will most likely be an American—one whom Sullivan coached during Team USA’s runner-up finish at the 4 Nations tournament. Potential candidates include Vincent Trocheck, J.T. Miller, Adam Fox, and Chris Kreider. “What I learned is that they’re fierce competitors and they have an insatiable appetite to win,” Sullivan stated.

The Rangers completed a humiliating feat during the 2024-25 campaign, becoming the fourth team in NHL history to miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs one season after winning the Presidents’ Trophy. To rub salt in the wound, New York became the only team to ever register such dubious feat twice as it previously accomplished it in the 1992-93 season.

If it’s of any comfort for the Broadway Blueshirts, they had gone on to win the Stanley Cup in the 1993-94. If history is to repeat itself in The Big Apple, it won’t be Peter Laviolette who guides the Rangers to their fifth championship.

Drury and the Rangers have reportedly played their cards and are now really close to announcing their new head coach, which fans and media in New York City believe is really down to one name, which recently became available.

“The Rangers will have their coach by the end of the week,” insider Frank Seravalli stated during an appearance on the Morning Cuppa Hockey podcast.

Clear frontrunner

Mike Sullivan, who led the Pittsburgh Penguins on back-to-back Stanley Cups during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, has parted ways with the organization in Steel City after ten years.

Sullivan has been a strong candidate during every offseason coaching search in New York, especially since Drury became General Manager in May 2021. Prior to signing Gerrard Gallant as head coach in the 2021 offseason, Drury had put negotiations in halt, waiting for any indication that Sullivan might become available. This time around, they aren’t losing sight of their target.

“I cannot imagine [the New York Rangers] allowing anyone to outdo themselves in the pursuit of Sullivan,” insider Elliotte Friedman said in an interview with NHL Network.

Finally, the stars have aligned in Manhattan, and it appears Sullivan will at last take over behind the bench. He’s no stranger to the Metropolitan Division—though he’s never captured a divisional title—and could provide an immediate spark to a locker room that’s been through the wringer lately and is in need of stability after a rollercoaster NHL season.

Despite featuring Crosby and other stars in their lineup, the Penguins have failed to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of their last three NHL campaigns. Moreover, Pittsburgh’s last playoff series win was during the 2017-18 season, when they were knocked out by the Washington Capitals in the Second Round.

Since then, the Penguins and their fanbase have endured very short postseasons — if any — and long, dreadful springs and summers until hockey returns in October. Changes were needed, and with several franchises around the NHL eager to sign Sullivan, it made sense for both parties to part ways after nearly a decade together.

There is consensus around the NHL that it won’t take long for Sullivan to find a new home in the league. However, a bigger question mark lies within the Penguins, which are now embarking into the offseason without a replacement for Sullivan. Options abound, nevertheless, and the prospect of coaching Crosby is one that might outweigh every other concern about the Penguins’ roster.

On that note, some of the biggest names in the coaching carousel include: Peter Laviolette, John Tortorella, Joel Quenneville, and David Carle. Rick Tocchet has yet to make a decision about his future with the Vancouver Canucks, but could easily enter the race if he becomes available.

An alternative to coaching carousel

Although it sounds less appealing for fans, the Penguins might down a different route: promoting Kirk MacDonald, the AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach, to the NHL head coach job.

It would be fitting, as Sullivan was promoted by the organization from his head coach position in the AHL to succeed Mike Johnston behind the bench for the NHL Penguins in December 2015. He’d go on to hoist the Stanley Cup, becoming the sixth coach in league history to accomplish such feat after being hired mid-season.

Show conviction

While the Penguins shouldn’t rush their head coaching decision, they cannot waste much time, either. Plus, the organization must show Crosby and the rest of the team they know what they’re doing. If the team’s legends sense panic within the front office, then it sets off a domino effect, which could very well end in the worst scenario for the team: Crosby’s exit to a contender.

The 37-year-old idol in The Steel City has made it clear he wishes to stay in town, yet that could all change if he senses little to no hope going into the 2025-26 season. Sid the Kid is under contract through the 2026-27 season, but the noise surrounding Crosby will be unbearable if GM Kyle Dubas and the Penguins fail to establish some solid ground for their plan.

Laviolette’s tenure with the Rangers was a tale of two stories. After leading the team to a Presidents’ Trophy in the 2023-24 season and falling just short of the Stanley Cup Final, Laviolette struggled to guide the Blueshirts back to the playoffs the following year, with the season plagued by losing streaks.

Although Laviolette’s recent tenure with the Rangers may cause some franchises to hesitate, his 18-year NHL coaching career has been largely successful, highlighted by a Stanley Cup championship with the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2005-06 season and two additional Final appearances.

One team’s trash might become another franchises’ treasure, and after his exit from the Rangers, another Original Six organization might be knocking on Laviolette’s door.

According to reports from NYRangers Insider, the Boston Bruins are one team interested in Peter Laviolette, the former head coach in New York City. The Bruins fired Jim Montgomery early in the season, appointing Joe Sacco as interim head coach for the rest of the season.

After missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Bruins are looking for a fresh start and better results, and it begins with who they name as their new manager behind the bench at TD Garden.

Don Sweeney’s statement

On Wednesday morning, the Bruins’ front office held its end-of-season press conference, during which the vacant head coaching position was a recurring theme.

General Manager Don Sweeney confirmed that the team is actively searching for a new head coach this offseason. While interim coach Joe Sacco remains a candidate, he could trail behind if Laviolette’s car enters the track.

Laviolette’s second year at the helm was nothing short of a disaster. Being the best team in the regular season during his first year in NYC, Laviolette and the Rangers turned into one of the NHL’s biggest laughingstocks less than twelve months apart.

No job was safe within the Rangers’ organization during their troubling 2024-25 NHL campaign. Team captain Jacob Trouba was traded away, and several other key players packed their bags at JFK Airport in search of new horizons across the league.

Ultimately, Laviolette had to face the music after the dreadful show his Broadway Blueshirts put on. With him out, several names have jumped onto the coaching carousel — but according to recent reports, one three-time Stanley Cup champion is already off the board.

The New York Rangers won’t reach out to Joel Quenneville, the three-time Stanley Cup winning head coach with the Chicago Blackhawks, according to The New York Post.

Expected return

Quenneville last coached the Florida Panthers during the 2021-22 NHL season. Coach Q resigned on October 2021, and had since been suspended due to the controversial episode involving Brad Aldrich during the Blackhawks’ 2010 Stanley Cup run.

On July 1st, 2024 Quenneville was reinstated to seek future employment in the NHL, and while his presence creates polarizing opinions, many teams could be interested in having a proven winner behind the bench. However, it appears the Rangers are not one of them.

Fans in New York are anxious about hoisting the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1994, and according to The New York Post, there’s a mutual agreement NYC wouldn’t provide the softest landing spot for Quenneville return to the NHL.

The Rangers have moved on from Laviolette, but the crushing memory of their past season will linger in the locker room for some time, like a thorn. While the search for a new boss behind the bench will demand the biggest effort in New York City, the organization will have to re-evaluate their roster, as well.

It became clear throughout the 2024-25 NHL campaign that the Rangers are still missing the finishing touches in their lineup to consistently compete with the league’s best. Perhaps Shesterkin is the only player whose performance this season left no room for scrutiny, though some could argue it wasn’t on par with his ludicrous net worth following his massive contract extension

The season was long and grueling, and in the end, it left players wondering if it was even worth it, as they had nothing to show for their efforts. There’s no clear point on the timeline where the Rangers can say things went south, but Shesterkin made a strong statement about the climate within Laviolette’s locker room.

“In my mind, something broke during the season and went the other way. We couldn’t handle it,” Igor Shesterkin told media in attendance during the Rangers’ end-of-season availability. “It was our job to try to find a way to get back.”

Got the better of New York

The Rangers faced adversity on many layers. Mired in losing slumps, failing to put up good performances consistently, the roster underwent several changes, including the departure of leaders, and the group never managed to adjust.

“It’s part of professional sports, but, obviously, at a certain point it becomes somewhat of a distraction,” Rangers star Chris Kreider admitted. “[We lost] two guys that were massive leaders for us and a big part of our room. I just think there was this dynamic and it’s changing an environment like that. Not even to get into the personal relationships we all had, what good people they are, things that they did… It was certainly challenging.”

“I think it’s on us, inside this room, in order to make sure that the outside noise doesn’t get to us,” Vincent Trocheck added. “Whether that’s talking to somebody individually or if it’s just sticking together as a team and as a family and I think we can get better at that. Lifting guys up instead of bringing guys down, I think that goes a long way.”

Feeling responsible for Laviolette’s job

Regardless of the team’s steep drop in production, which was partially due to Laviolette’s gameplan, the players in NYC can’t help but feel they could’ve done things differently. At the end of the day, Laviolette is gone, and they will now embark into unknown territory, with more question marks than before.

“It’s hard not to look at us as players and say, ‘Why is that happening?’ We seem to have a lot of success and then I don’t know, it turns,” defenseman Adam Fox stated. “I don’t think us as players at any point didn’t like Lavi or thought his message wasn’t getting through.

“It just seemed the execution of it was not there. I think we want to be able to come in with a coach that’s here for as long as we’re all here. Even outlast us as players because that means we’re having a lot of success.“

That wasn’t the case whatsoever in New York, and the Rangers will now head into the offseason filled with uncertainty, as the pressure for results won’t ease up—nor will it magically disappear.

Laviolette, who was hired on June 13, 2023, compiled a record of 94 wins, 59 losses, and 11 overtime losses during his tenure. Alongside him, associate coach Phil Housley was also relieved of his duties.

The decision follows a deeply underwhelming 2024–25 campaign in which the Rangers posted a 39-36-7 record and failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The move comes just one year after the team captured the Presidents’ Trophy with franchise-best marks of 55 wins and 114 points and reached the Eastern Conference Final, where they fell in six games to the eventual champion Florida Panthers.

“Today I informed Peter Laviolette and Phil Housley that we’re making a coaching change,“ said general manager Chris Drury. “I want to thank them both and wish them and their families all the best going forward. Peter is first-class all the way—both professionally and personally—and I am truly grateful for his passion and dedication to the Rangers during his time as head coach.”

An alarming midseason collapse

Despite opening the season with a strong 12-4-1 record, the Rangers experienced a dramatic collapse between November 21 and December 30, managing just four wins in 19 games (4-15-0). Though the team showed signs of recovery and held a playoff position after a 4-0 win over Columbus on March 15, a subsequent 4-8-1 stretch in the final weeks extinguished their postseason hopes.

With this result, the Rangers join a dubious list of teams that failed to make the playoffs the year after winning the Presidents’ Trophy. That group includes the 2014–15 Bruins, the 2007–08 Sabres, and the 1992–93 Rangers themselves.

“After finishing with the best regular season record in the NHL a year ago and reaching the Eastern Conference Final, we entered this season with high expectations,” Drury said. “Quite simply, we failed to meet those expectations. We must all do better—myself included. As we look to next season and beyond, I felt that a change was necessary to give us the best chance to achieve our goals as an organization. Our search for a new head coach will begin immediately.”

What went wrong in New York?

Several factors contributed to the team’s decline. The power play, which ranked third in the NHL last season with a 26.4% success rate, plummeted to 28th (17.6%) this year. Additionally, the Rangers struggled mightily in comeback situations—a stark contrast to the previous season, when they led the league with 28 comeback wins.

Now, with the offseason underway, the organization must begin the critical process of identifying a new bench boss capable of restoring consistency, maximizing talent, and bringing the franchise back to contender status.

With one game left in the NHL season, the Rangers are looking to put their disappointing campaign in the past and move on onto what’s set to be a dramatic offseason, with many lingering questions left unanswered.

On the one hand, the Broadway Blueshirts face a tough decision on their head coach, after Peter Laviolette‘s second year behind the bench fell well short of expectations. Though Laviolette made clear his intentions to stay in The Big Apple, the decision is on the organization’s hands.

Moreover, the roster is staring down some major decisions, with several key players set to hit free agency. Calvin de Haan is among the upcoming UFAs in New York, and while it’s unlikely he’ll be extended—especially after his recent comments—he does seem to have walked them back.

“I was just going out on the ice and thought it was more of a small talk conversation with the reporters,” de Haan said about his comments, via lohud. “Maybe I should have chosen my words a little better, frankly.”

Message to Laviolette

Since the Rangers traded for de Haan in a move that sent Ryan Lindgren to Colorado, the former Avalanche appeared in just 3 games, being scratched in over 20 games. Obviously, his frustration got the best of him when making his statement.

“[Laviolette] knows I’m upset,” de Haan stated. “It’s no hard feelings against Lavi. It’s business, at the end of the day. It’s nothing personal. It’s just the decisions that they’ve made that I don’t necessarily agree with at times.”

Putting out the fire

After de Haan realized the magnitude of his comments, he called team president and GM Chris Drury hoping to address the situation.

“I called (Rangers team president) Chris Drury right after I saw everything online and tried to do their honorable thing, and just tell him, ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to belittle anyone or drag the organization through the mud,’” de Haan added. “I think it got really blown out of proportion, frankly.”

It’s been a complete letdown of a season for the 2023-24 Presidents’ Trophy winners. The Rangers became just the fourth team in NHL history to miss the postseason the year after finishing with the league’s best regular-season record. Even more concerning, the Broadway Blueshirts are now the only franchise to suffer that fate twice.

Though the Rangers remained mathematically alive in the playoff race until Game No. 80, hope had long abandoned fans at Madison Square Garden. The team failed to deliver playoff-worthy performances all year, and this gut-wrenching ending had been expected for quite some time—by both the fans and the organization.

Laviolette has been under the microscope all season, along with the players and front office. Everyone played a role in this historic collapse, but the head coach may be the first to be shown the exit door in Manhattan.

“I think everything gets looked at when a year is not good like this. I’m not blind to anything,” Peter Laviolette told the media after New York’s morning skate on Sunday. “I love being here with these guys and the New York Rangers. It’s a year where everything went right to a year where things didn’t go right. When things don’t go right, I’m sure everything gets looked at. I’m not naive.

“That being said, this is the place I want to be was New York City, the New York Rangers. It’s a great organization, great city, great family. It’s just tough right now, everybody’s faced with disappointment. Everybody I just mentioned is faced with disappointment today and I get that. There’s always things that are looked at.”

Cold dagger

After last season’s Eastern Conference Final loss, the bar was set even higher for Laviolette’s Rangers — but they fell painfully short of clearing it. New York dropped its fourth game in five outings on Saturday, as the Carolina Hurricanes routed them 7-3, hammering the final nail into the Rangers’ coffin.

“I think there’s always expectation here. I think every year this team has gone in expecting to be successful, expecting to win a Stanley Cup. The disappointment is real. From everybody’s standpoint. Even tonight, we didn’t do the right things well enough to be successful. We give up 3 goals point blank in front of our net. Can’t happen.”

Where to from here?

The Rangers now head into a tumultuous offseason, with major decisions looming for GM Chris Drury and the front office. As for the remainder of their schedule, New York will visit the Florida Panthers on April 14, before closing out the season at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 17 at Madison Square Garden.