Rangers coach already 18th most tenured in NHL after only 12 months on job
Mike Sullivan’s been head coach of the New York Rangers for 382 days, a bit more than one year. But already 14 coaches were hired after him, making Sullivan the 18th most tenured coach with one team currently in the NHL.
That’s a head-spinning turnover since the Rangers named Sullivan the 38th coach in franchise history on May 2, 2025. And recently it seems almost by the day that Sullivan moves up the list, with Adam Foote fired by the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, less than a week after the Edmonton Oilers canned Kris Knoblauch, which followed one day after Craig Berube was shown the exit door by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Sullivan could’ve moved another step up the tenure list Tuesday, had Sunny Mehta, the new general manager of the New Jersey Devils, made a coaching change instead of stating that the embattled Sheldon Keefe will remain behind their bench.
And it’s not like the Rangers are a bastion of coaching stability, especially recently. Since Chris Drury became general manager in the 2021 offseason, he’s made three coaching changes in five years. He initially replaced David Quinn with Gerard Gallant in 2021; hired Peter Laviolette after canning Gallant in 2023; then replaced Laviolette with Sullivan in 2025.
Though it’s expected Sullivan’s in a safe spot considering he’s the coach Drury always wanted to hire in the first place, the two-time Stanley Cup winner from his days coaching the Pittsburgh Penguins shouldn’t get too comfortable. Keep in mind that his first season on Broadway wasn’t pretty. It included a last-place finish in the Eastern Conference and one of the worst home-ice records at Madison Garden in Rangers history. A repeat in 2026-27 won’t leave Sullivan on solid footing.
Rangers’ Mike Sullivan one of most experienced coaches in ever-changing NHL
Despite just 82 games coached with the Rangers, Sullivan is one of the most experienced head coaches in the League. The next game he coaches, presumably opening night next season, will be the 1,000th of his NHL career. He’s coached continuously in the League since taking over the Penguins job on Dec. 12, 2015, mutually parting ways with Pittsburgh after the 2024-25 season and then picking up with the Rangers ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.
Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning, hired March 25, 2013, is the longest tenured coach in the NHL. He’s followed by Jared Bednar of the Colorado Avalanche (Aug. 25, 2016) and Rod Brind’Amour of the Carolina Hurricanes (May 8, 2018).
Perhaps a bit of a surprise is that Martin St. Louis of the Montreal Canadiens is the fourth most tenured coach currently in the NHL, even though the former Rangers forward was hired with zero professional coaching experience back on Feb. 9, 2022. Marty now has the Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Final, facing off against Brind’Amour’s Hurricanes. Bednar and the Avalanche are in the Western Conference Final against the Vegas Golden Knights, who switched to John Tortorella behind the bench with two weeks remaining in the 2025-26 regular season.
Like we said, head-spinning stuff.
For the record, there are four NHL head coaching vacancies, including the Los Angeles Kings, who could retain interim coach D.J. Smith.
To make all of this even nuttier, the Golden Knights continue to refuse to allow the Oilers and Kings permission to interview fired coach Bruce Cassidy, who remains under contract with Vegas and led them to the Stanley Cup championship in 2023.
Head spinning indeed.
