Mike Sullivan's tenure as coach of the New York Rangers officially began Wednesday when the Blueshirts welcomed 61 players to the MSG Training Center in Tarrytown, New York.
That's not to say Sullivan and his coaching staff (which includes former Rangers bench boss David Quinn) have been sitting around doing nothing since the two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins was hired 4 ½ months ago. He's been playing "getting to know you" with players he's spent the past few seasons coaching against.
Sullivan coached three of the Rangers' most important players, defenseman Adam Fox and centers Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller , in his role as bench boss for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. But he's spent much of the time since his hiring working to build relationships with the rest of his team
"I think it starts with communication … just the time and effort he's put in to get to know these players," general manager Chris Drury said Wednesday when he and Sullivan met the media. "He had a few of them at 4 Nations obviously. But just giving the group, including his staff, the chance to hit the ground running by relationship-building during the summer — different travels here and there to get to know players; as he said, it was time well spent. I think it's going to give us a chance to get off to a good start in training camp."
Here are three things we learned from Sullivan on Day 1 of training camp.
Perhaps the most important visit Sullivan made after his hiring was a trip to Sweden to meet with Mika Zibanejad, a career-long center whose game perked up in the last third of the season when he was shifted to right wing on a line with center J.T. Miller, who was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 31 and named the 29th captain in Rangers history on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old had 29 points (nine goals, 20 assists) through his first 50 games, then put up 33 (11 goals, 22 assists) in the final 32 games after Miller was acquired from Vancouver. They produced a 52.14 percent xGF across 259:15 minutes at 5-on-5 together, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Sullivan said he doesn't plan to tinker with something that worked well.
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"I would envision Mika starting the season in the top six on the wing," he told the media. "In my conversations with Mika during the offseason, he expressed to me the chemistry he felt he built with J.T. J.T. expressed the same thing. I think these guys are important guys for our team, so common sense would suggest maybe that we start there and see if that's the best interest of the group."
Getting to know Zibanejad away from the rink was something Sullivan was focused on.
"I know how good he can be, and my hope in going to see him was to get to know him a little bit, to give him a chance to get to know me," he said. "I could share some of my intentions going into this season as the head coach and how I was going to approach this opportunity we have in front of us to reiterate to him the importance of building (a) relationship and a partnership with the players. That's so essential in today's game, and I felt that we accomplished all of those things by going over to see him in Sweden.
"It was a great trip. I got to meet his family, and I think those things are important – to get to know people. We had great conversations over there. I wouldn't have known some of the things I know now if I didn't go – for example, the relationship and the chemistry he felt he had with J.T."
Lafreniere was one of the Rangers' biggest disappointments last season. After posting career highs of 28 goals and 57 points in 2023-24 and getting off to a fast start last season ( eight points in his first eight games ), the first player taken in the 2020 NHL Draft signed a seven-year contract extension – and promptly saw his scoring numbers fall off a cliff. He finished with 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists).
Lafreniere thrived in 2023-24 playing on right wing, his off side, with Artemi Panarin on left wing and Vincent Trocheck in the middle. But with Chris Kreider gone after a trade to the Anaheim Ducks in June, Sullivan was asked if Lafreniere could go back to the left side.
"I would envision us exploring combinations with respect to the top six," he said. "You may see Laf on both sides, and we'll figure out through that process what combinations give us the best chance to succeed. That's an interesting discussion, playing the off side vs. playing the strong side in today's game. I've always been a strong believer with the way the game is played that wings are at an advantage playing their off side because of how hard teams pinch the walls, and going down on that puck on your forehand gives you an advantage.
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"But having said that, I think it's personal to players. Some players feel more comfortable at different spots. I think (Lafreniere) has the ability to play both (wings). We'll try to figure that out based on what the combinations look like. … to see what's in his best interest to set him up for success, but also the team. It's that balance that we're going to try to look for. I think players, for whatever reason, have certain comfort level playing on certain sides. I personally think in today's game that wings are better off playing their off side."
It's no secret that last season was one of the most disappointing in Rangers history — they went from Presidents' Trophy winners in 2023-24 to playoff outsiders last season. Drury fired coach Peter Laviolette, hired fellow Boston University alum Sullivan and revamped the coaching staff and front office.
Sullivan said he and Drury agreed that the new coach had to get to know as many as his players as possible before they arrived at training camp.
"I think what went into it was what we discussed when Chris and I talked and I joined the Rangers," Sullivan said. "We just talked about the group, and I felt it was important that I started building relationships with, in particular, the leadership to start with."
Getting to know his players is important, but it's not the only thing Sullivan said wants to accomplish at camp and during the six preseason games before the Rangers open the regular season against Sullivan's former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, on Oct. 7.
"I think we have certain objectives when we go into a training camp, that we're trying to accomplish certain things. I think the most important thing is that we just had this conversation with the players," he said. "We're going to take each day as it comes, and we're going to try to get better every day. We've got to become a better version of ourself every day, and all of us have a responsibility and we've got to take ownership of that.
"I look at training camp as parallel objectives. We're going to try to give players an opportunity to show what they can do. We're going to assess the group and what we have so we can try to make the best decisions, to put the best lineup on the ice on opening night. … I think it's important that we push each other every day to be at our best. We want to become a better version of ourself every single day."
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