Sullivan expects ‘mixed emotions’ facing Penguins in debut as Rangers coach

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Mike Sullivan is running into the unavoidable right away, starting his new journey with the New York Rangers against the team, including a handful of players, he will walk together with forever.

"I'm sure there will be a lot of mixed emotions," Sullivan said.

In a not-so-subtle decision by the NHL schedule makers, opposing the New York Rangers in Sullivan's debut as their coach at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday is the Pittsburgh Penguins (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN1, TVAS), the team he coached for the past decade.

The Rangers also play against the Penguins in Pittsburgh at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

"The relationships that I built with those guys were strong," Sullivan said. "We had the privilege of winning a couple of championships together, and I think when you go through experiences like that it certainly galvanizes relationships that last a lifetime."

Sullivan arrived in Pittsburgh on Dec. 12, 2015, replacing Mike Johnston, who was fired. The Penguins, with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, were at a crossroads, struggling to get back to the team they were in 2009 when they won the Stanley Cup.

Sullivan got them back to being that team. They won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and again in 2017. They reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The coach parted ways with the Penguins on April 28, a mutual agreement between him and the team, as Pittsburgh's all-time leader in wins in the regular season (409) and Stanley Cup Playoffs (44).

"Just having him be our coach for that long, that's pretty rare that a coach has a stint like that," Crosby said. "Ten years is a long time, and I think the fact that we won together, that we had so much experience with him as our coach -- good years where we won and then years where we didn’t make the playoffs -- that's a lot. … I just appreciate all the time that we had."

* * * * *

Even with the expectation of an emotional opening night, Sullivan is clear with his next objective.

"What I will tell you is my focus will be on the Rangers and doing our very best to set this group up for success," Sullivan said.

He began that task on May 2 when he was hired as Rangers coach, replacing Peter Laviolette, who had the job the previous two seasons, leading New York to the Eastern Conference Final in 2024 before missing the playoffs last season.

Sullivan has regularly said before and throughout training camp that his job, and the job of his coaching staff, is to make everyone "a better version of ourselves" every day.

Crosby understands what that means. It's what he and his teammates attempted to do for 10 years under Sullivan. For the most part, they were successful until missing the playoffs the past three seasons.

Pittsburgh has since decided to go in a new direction, toward getting younger while keeping the three main pieces of the championship core together.

"He meant a lot," Letang said of Sullivan. "Obviously I've tried to learn from every single coach I've had, but when you have one that's been with you for 10 years, it's something that sticks in your memory, all the little things that you've been through, how much time he took with me -- not even talking about hockey, more about life in general. I really appreciate that from him.

“But obviously, from the hockey side, he taught me a lot of things I didn't really see."

* * * * *

Sullivan is now trying to change the direction of the Rangers with the same core that went the wrong way last season. It started in training camp, which was, as Crosby predicted, challenging.

"He's going to push everybody, that's for sure," Crosby said before camp began when asked for advice he would give the Rangers players. "He's somebody who wants to get the best out of you, and to do that, he's going to push you."

"Yeah, a hundred percent right," Rangers forward Will Cuylle said when told of Crosby's prediction. "I mean, this camp has been tough. A lot of skating. A lot of long days at the rink. To play the style that we want to play we've got to be in shape, so I think we're all pushing each other to make sure we're in the best shape possible and ready for the first game."

Crosby also predicted Sullivan would pull New York’s players out of their comfort zone, something he said Sullivan did on a daily basis in Pittsburgh.

"He's very direct and straightforward and honest," said center J.T. Miller, who was named Rangers captain on Sept. 15. "Sometimes you're not going to like that, but the older you get and as you mature you understand he's just doing everything in the sense to win the hockey game. It's not personal. I can really relate to that."

Rangers center Vincent Trocheck said of Sullivan, "He is no [nonsense]."

Miller, Trocheck and defenseman Adam Fox had limited exposure to Sullivan's brand of coaching while playing under him for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.

Fox said he learned then why the Penguins were always competitive even when they had injuries or limited depth like the previous few seasons.

"It's because of the system and the structure," Fox said. "It allowed them to play well and be hard to play against."

It's a zone system in the defensive zone, which Trocheck said gives the forwards freedom to still have energy to go on offense because they're playing in a quadrant instead of how the Rangers played under Laviolette.

"It's not a man-on-man system where you're just chasing your guy the entire shift, which a lot of times whenever you are doing that it does take away energy for offense," Trocheck said. "Any time you do turn the puck over you might not have the legs to get to offense, whereas in this system it's more reading and reacting. You're in your area, basically."

The Rangers, as the Penguins did for years, will try to excel in the transition game by playing straight ahead through the neutral zone, limiting the east-west plays that too often burned them in the past, especially last season, when they allowed 137 goals on high-danger chances, sixth most in the League, according to NHL Stats.

"We want to be direct with the puck, not being too cute with it," Cuylle said. "Keeping it simple and with hard work. It's less about the systems and more about the mindset of outworking your opponent and emptying the tank every game."

That's Sullivan's mentality. It's the attitude the Penguins had for years, even the past few when they started to build toward a new era. Now it's the approach Sullivan has brought to the Rangers, complete with instilling belief in the players and their ability to accomplish great things.

It starts Tuesday against the one team Sullivan might still know better than his own.

It'll be emotional and probably a bit weird coaching against Crosby, Malkin, Letang and the rest of the players in black and gold, but all of that will subside when the puck drops and the new journey begins.

"I think we've got the opportunity to be a real good team," Sullivan said. "Right now, that's all it is -- an opportunity. We've got to go out and earn it."

NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika and independent correspondent Wes Crosby contributed to this report