It took an extra five months, but John Tortorella finally gets his man. Mike Sullivan will join the Rangers as an Assistant Coach after finishing out his contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Sullivan served as an assistant under Tortorella in Tampa, and stayed with the team through last season. When Tortorella was hired last February, the Rangers made an aborted attempt to bring Sullivan over as well, but had to pull back after some miscommunications almost lead to the Rangers being accused of tampering.
The 41 year old Sullivan rejoins the team that drafted him back in 1987, but the Massachusetts native never got a chance to play for the Rangers. He did however go on to skate in 709 regular season games with the Sharks, Flames, Bruins and Coyotes before joining the coaching ranks.
Initially hired as a head coach for the Providence Bruins (AHL) in the 2002-03 season, Sullivan was promoted in his first year to Assistant Coach with the parent club. The following season Sullivan took over as head coach of the Boston Bruins and guided them through 70-56-38 record through two seasons before being replaced. After two seasons out of the coaching ranks, he was rehired as an assistant under Tortorella for the 2007-08 season.
Although no official announcement has been made, this likely spells the end for Mike Pelino with the Rangers’ organization. Pelino was demoted to the role of video coach following the hiring of Tom Renney.
It is also expected that Jim Schoenfeld will now relinquish his role as Assistant Coach and return to his back office role as an assistant to General Manager Glen Sather.