Rangers hire Mike Sullivan as coach

What seemed inevitable the minute the Penguins let coach Mike Sullivan go became a reality on Friday when the Rangers announced the hiring of Sullivan as their coach.

He replaces Peter Laviolette, who was fired after the Rangers failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2021.

Sullivan, 57, becomes the 38th coach in franchise history. He is a two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins and has a career record of 479 wins, 311 losses, 15 ties and 112 overtime/shootout losses.

Sullivan, who also served as coach for Team USA during the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off international tournament this season, will coach the U.S. team during the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

“Mike Sullivan has established himself as one of the premier head coaches in the NHL,” Rangers general manager Chris Drury said in a release announcing the move. “Given his numerous accomplishments throughout his coaching career — including two Stanley Cups and leading Team USA at the international level — Mike brings a championship-level presence behind the bench.”

Sullivan served as an assistant coach with the Rangers under John Tortorella from 2009-13. Drury was the team captain from 2008-11.

“I’ve gotten to know Mike very well over the years, including as teammates in the 1997 World Championships when he coached me as a player in New York, and also through our shared time working together with USA Hockey,” said Drury, also an assistant GM for Team USA. “As we began this process and Mike became an available option for us to speak with, it was immediately clear that he was the best coach to lead our team.”

Sullivan, a 1987 Rangers draft pick, has been on Drury’s radar for years now. He reportedly wanted to hire Sullivan in 2021 but couldn’t pry him away from Pittsburgh and ended up hiring Gerard Gallant. He wanted Sullivan again in 2023 after firing Gallant but was unsuccessful and brought in Laviolette instead.

When Drury fired Laviolette on April 19, two days after the Rangers’ season ended, Sullivan still was the Penguins’ coach, and he had said at Pittsburgh’s breakup day that he planned on remaining in that position. But after Sullivan met with GM Kyle Dubas to discuss the future of the club, the Penguins — who missed the playoffs for a third straight season — decided to go in a different direction, and the sides mutually parted ways on Monday.

After that, the Rangers acted rapidly to get their man. Sullivan, who earned a reported $5.5 million annually with the Penguins, was expected to be coveted by a number of teams, including Boston, where he began his NHL coaching career in 2002 as an assistant before becoming the head coach for the next two seasons. Sullivan’s son-in-law, Long Beach native Charlie McAvoy, plays for the Bruins, and that figured to be a draw for the coach, who is a Massachusetts native.

If the Rangers had waited to act, there might have been other jobs coming open after the first round of the playoffs and Sullivan would have had more suitors.

Besides their previous time together with the Rangers, Drury and Sullivan share ties to Boston University, where both played college hockey (though not at the same time).

Drury has sought to make the Rangers a grittier team, and Sullivan would seem to be the strong, credible personality the Rangers’ veteran roster appears to need driving them from behind the bench.

At the 4 Nations tournament, Sullivan coached four Rangers players — Chris Kreider, Adam Fox, Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller.

“I would like to welcome Mike back to the Rangers organization,” MSG executive chairman and CEO James L. Dolan said. “Mike’s track record and success in the NHL and internationally speaks for itself, and I look forward to seeing him behind the Rangers’ bench.”

Rangers extend Parssinen. The Rangers announced they have agreed to a two-year contract extension with restricted free agent forward Juuso Parssinen. According to CapWages, the deal is worth $2.5 million and carries an average annual value of $1.25 million.

By Colin Stephenson

[email protected]ColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.