Can Mike Sullivan Propel The Rangers Back To Relevance?

Is Mike Sullivan alone enough to propel the New York Rangers back to relevance? There are two parts to this question. 

Yes, Sullivan can change the culture around in New York. 

On top of the new coach effect, Sullivan is a proven winner and a two-time Stanley Cup champion. 

Upon his arrival to Pittsburgh, Sullivan helped establish a strong culture around Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang. 

Sullivan’s direct and passionate attitude is exactly what this Rangers team needs at the moment. He’ll bring a jolt of energy that not many head coaches are able to provide. 

The Rangers have the talent, but there was clearly something wrong with the team internally, something that Sullivan can help fix. 

However, one coach cannot magically cure all of the Rangers’ problems. 

Defensively, the Blueshirts are just not strong and that might take a change in personnel and improvements from players like Adam Fox and K’Andre Miller. 

From an offensive standpoint, the Rangers will heavily depend on their veterans, a.k.a. Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck, and J.T. Miller to carry the load. 

There’s a call for the Blueshirts to make major changes over the offseason, but it will be difficult for Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury to make any drastic roster moves due to the team’s cap flexibility.

That means it will likely be a quiet summer for the Rangers and next season's results will heavily depend on some of these returning players having bounce-back years.

Sullivan can partially turn this Rangers ship around, but it will take more than just him.