PITTSBURGH — There is one thing perversely ironic in regards to the present state of the Rangers and Penguins, after the 2 golf equipment swapped coaches this previous summer time.
Serving as an assistant underneath Peter Laviolette in New York the earlier two seasons, Dan Muse was charged with getting an older Penguins group again on observe whereas common supervisor Kyle Dubas retools a roster that’s bracing for all times after the Big Three of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.
Muse and the Penguins had been sitting in second place within the Metropolitan Division getting into Saturday’s matchup with the Rangers.
The finish of Pittsburgh’s three-season playoff drought is properly inside attain.
What a solution to start an NHL head teaching profession.
Mike Sullivan reacts in the course of the Rangers’ 6-5 highway loss to the Penguins on Jan. 31, 2026 in Pittsburgh. AP
Mike Sullivan, who received two Stanley Cups and spent the previous decade with the Penguins, was dropped at New York to salvage the championship window.
A disagreement on the timeline again to success reportedly led to Sullivan’s departure from Pittsburgh, so becoming a member of a Rangers group that anticipated to be aggressive was a preferable touchdown spot.
On the day the Penguins had been celebrating the tenth anniversary of their 2016 Stanley Cup win, nonetheless, Sullivan got here into PPG Paints Arena with the Rangers sitting in lifeless final within the Eastern Conference.
Just two weeks prior, the membership introduced its intentions to retool and determined to not prolong star wing Artemi Panarin.
The begin of his Rangers tenure actually hasn’t gone the best way he imagined, however the progress his former group has made hasn’t come as a shock.
“It doesn’t surprise me, because I think the core guys that have been here as long as they have, they’re a unique group,” Sullivan mentioned Saturday, earlier than the Rangers misplaced, 6-5, to the Penguins. “And though they’re growing older, there’s nonetheless elite-level play of their sport. It’s pushed by Sid, their captain. Does it shock me? No, it doesn’t. I believe they’ve carried out an important job so far as turning into a group, and a number of the younger guys they added, and a number of the items they added alongside the best way.
Dan Muse is pictured in the course of the Penguins’ Jan. 29 sport. AP
“When you look at the top line, they drive, they’re the heartbeat of the team and have been for a number of years. All the elements are in play. Their special teams have been really good. They’re getting saves. It’s a good recipe.”
The Rangers job now seems to be lots different than it did just below 4 months in the past.
It may very well be a while earlier than the group begins experiencing constant success once more, and that’s not precisely what Sullivan signed up for.
He has already made it clear he’s nonetheless teaching to win.
Sullivan will not be a growth coach, however he’s a participant’s coach.
Perhaps it may very well be helpful for Sullivan to have this time to not solely form the group’s children into his system, but in addition foster the forms of relationships that he has constructed his repute on.
Considering the switch-up, there may be understandably some doubt surrounding Sullivan’s match for what’s forward.
But he’s the coach that president and common supervisor Chris Drury has needed on the helm of his group.
One of the loudest criticisms of Sullivan’s tenure in Pittsburgh was his administration of youth.
Though there actually wasn’t a lot for him to work with again then.
An abundance of rookies have already infiltrated the Rangers lineup, a few of whom Sullivan has entrusted increasingly more.
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There is perception that Sullivan’s preexisting relationships with the Wilkes-Barre gamers who had been promoted to the Penguins in 2016 performed a significant component within the group’s ascension to Stanley Cup champions.
“We’ll explore our lineup for sure, and we’ll move people around,” Sullivan mentioned when requested if he can experiment in methods he perhaps wouldn’t have if the Rangers weren’t of their present scenario. “We have already got, and we’ll proceed to take action primarily based on what we see, and the place we expect we are able to put gamers in positions to achieve success and provides a possibility to play to their strengths. That’s what we’re attempting to do. Gabe Perreault is an ideal instance proper now, and the chance he’s getting within the place that he’s in. But he’s not the one one. There’s a variety of them.
“We’re going to continue to try to get to know this group even more so than we know them now. We’ll continue to assess and we’ll continue to learn and grow together as a group, and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
Sullivan later added: “I’m going to do my best to meet those challenges to try to help this organization move forward.”
