Will Mike Sullivan's bold system work with the New York Rangers?

The result of Sunday's Rangers-Devils preseason matinee at the Prudential Center in New Jersey won't matter. That said, it's our first honest look at what kind of structure Mike Sullivan plans to bring to the New York Rangers.

For years, with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Sullivan's teams thrived on an aggressive 1-2-2 neutral-zone forecheck. F1 pressured the puck carrier hard, forcing a quick decision, while F2 and F3 were practically waiting at the opposing blue line to pounce on mistakes. The whole point was to suffocate time and space, turn defensemen into panicked turnover machines, and immediately flip those mistakes into transition chances. With Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, and a younger, faster group of Penguins, it worked beautifully. From 2015 to 2022, Pittsburgh's entire identity was defined by waves of speed and pressure, culminating in consecutive Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. 

However, time catches up with every roster. By 2023, Sullivan had to dial it back, as slower skaters, older legs, and less team speed were factors. So he shifted to a more conservative 1-2-2, where F1 hung back, F2 and F3 sat deeper, and the defensemen stayed home. That version clogged lanes, cut off cross-ice passes, and limited odd-man rushes. Safer, but less explosive.

A First Look at Mike Sullivan’s System:

That brings us to Manhattan. Sullivan is walking into a roster that says it wants to play fast and forecheck hard. This Summer, the K'Andre Miller trade to the Carolina Hurricanes was needed. Miller had hit restricted free agency, and the cost to keep him in New York long term didn't make sense. He's an athletic blueliner, but the 97 giveaways and consistency as a blueliner despite being a big body were disappointing. They acquired a 2026 second round pick, a conditional first round pick in 2026 or 2027, and defenseman Scott Morrow, whom I personally had my eyes on for a couple of years, as I love watching prospects. Carolina was so overloaded on the back end that Morrow was expendable.

The kid is just 22 and highly regarded, so there's an array of upside. Then came the ocean splash, as the Blueshirts inked a seven-year, $49 million deal with Vladislav Gavrikov. He's 29, right in his prime, and brings stability to a defensive core that desperately needs it. With the Kings last year, he played heavy minutes, skated well, defended even better, and was only on the ice for 42 goals against at five-on-five—22 of those considered high danger. The Rangers had also needed depth to support the kids and signed Taylor Raddysh, Derrick Pouliot, Trey Fix-Wolansky, and Justin Dowling as assistant teachers. So does Sullivan roll out the old aggressive system that requires relentless pressure? Or does he stick with the newer conservative style?

Sullivan’s Coaching Staff and Delegation

Before we even get to that answer, Sullivan's already drawn up a blueprint for how his bench will run. David Quinn — yes, the former Rangers head coach — is in charge of the power play and defensemen. Joe Sacco takes over the penalty kill and forwards. Ty Hennes, meanwhile, will be the ultimate utility man, handling skill work, player development, stat tracking, and even managing iPads mid-game. It's a modernized setup that says a lot about how The main bench boss wants the details buttoned before systems even hit the ice.

Sullivan made clear on Day 2 of camp, that nothing is locked in. He's not the type to cling to fixed lineups. That could mean Will Cuylle getting a look in the top six, Braden Schneider flipping sides to balance the blue line, or Alexis Lafrenière sliding between left and right wing, depending on matchups. Sullivan stated he's not afraid to experiment, and that flexibility could become a calling card of his first season in New York.

Do the Rangers have the horses?

The Blueshirts have the horses to fit the high-pressure version. The youngsters in Cuylle, Brennan Othmann, Adam Edstrom, Juuso Parssinen, Gabriel Perrault, Noah Laba, Brett Berard, and Lafrenière can fly. Vincent Trocheck, captain J.T. Miller, and Taylor Raddysh can hunt pucks. Regardless, Berard might already be the squad's most effective forechecker. He's not Matt Rempe throwing bone-crunchers, but his puck retrieval numbers are better, his timing is sharper, and he wins battles cleanly. A third-line role with Edstrom and Carrick, suits a cycle mindset that feeds directly into Sullivan's playbook.

Defensively, Sullivan has always been a "protect the house" coach. His system overloads the strong side, blocks shooting lanes, and falls into a zone when the puck is established. It's a hybrid style, built to keep shots to the outside and protect the slot. The upside: it's easier to play, and you can still turn defense into offense through transition. The downside: skilled, speedy forwards can still slice through it. That's why the comparison to Peter Laviolette is so essential. Laviolette ran a man-to-man defense last year, but the Rangers didn't have the personnel to support it.

They were thriving during their 2024 Presidents' Trophy run, thanks to a rush offense, power plays, and Igor Shesterkin doing Igor things. It was glorious until the reigning two-time Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers, clawed their way back in the Eastern Conference Finals. You need blazing-fast, skilled defensemen to pull that off, and those boys didn't. They were disorganized, and the system exacerbated their weaknesses. In recent years i’ve found myself on this site retracting what I once wrote about Blueshirts predecessors behind the bench. That's because in those times, the good outweighed bad. Criticism isn’t about tearing down, rather holding this franchise to the standard of a perennial Stanley Cup conetnder.

The real intrigue

So now we're left with this: Does Sullivan try to recreate the Penguins' high-pressure heyday with this younger, faster group of Rangers? Does he keep it conservative, clogging lanes, and sacrificing offense for stability? That's the real question here — not who wins in September, but what system the Blueshirts will be living in when the preseason starts.