4:19 p.m.: The Rangers have officially announced their new hires, according to a team statement.
8:38 a.m.: The Rangers are nearing a deal to bring David Quinn back to the organization as an assistant coach under new bench boss Mike Sullivan, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. They’re also expected to add former Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco to Sullivan’s staff after Boston declined to remove his interim tag and hired Marco Sturm today instead. Sullivan’s third and final assistant will be Ty Hennes, who had been on Sullivan’s staff with the Penguins for the last few years, Friedman adds.
Quinn, whose first NHL head coaching job was in New York from 2018 to 2021, spent last year as an assistant under Sullivan in Pittsburgh as well. He also worked with Sullivan as an assistant for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
It’s exceedingly rare to see a coach return to a team so quickly after he’d been let go, especially in a reduced capacity, but he’ll take the chance to continue working with Sullivan after coming up short in a couple of head coaching searches. The Kraken and Penguins both reportedly interviewed Quinn for their vacancies this offseason.
Quinn will presumably work with a Rangers power play that had its fair share of struggles this year. After clicking at 26.4% in their Presidents’ Trophy-winning 2023-24 season, their man-advantage units converted at just a 17.6% rate this year, fifth-worst in the league.
Sacco heads to MSG after an 11-year run in Boston that began as an assistant in the 2014-15 season. The Massachusetts native survived two head coaching changes before getting a chance himself as the interim for most of this year following Jim Montgomery’s firing in November. He coached the Bruins to a 25-30-7 record, undoubtedly dragged down by a 5-11-2 post-deadline stretch after trading away captain Brad Marchand and top-four defenseman Brandon Carlo.
The 56-year-old’s previous NHL stops include a four-year run as head coach of the Avalanche from 2009-10 to 2012-13 and one year with the Sabres as an assistant in 2013-14. He also coached the United States to a bronze medal at the 2013 World Championship.
Hennes, the tertiary assistant, is by far the least experienced among the group. The 45-year-old has only ever worked in Pittsburgh at the NHL level, only working on the bench since November 2022. Before that, he worked with the Pens for four years as a skating skills coach.