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<\/p>\nTARRYTOWN, N.Y. \u2014 Every summer for the last decade, Mike Sullivan and his coaching staff have scoured video of teams around the NHL before gathering to share their observations. This year, his first as head coach of the New York Rangers, the group\u2019s prevailing takeaways reflected a league-wide trend.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs coaches, we\u2019re always trying to stay on the cutting edge, or on the frontier of that evolution and where that game is going,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cAnd in my estimation, in the last 10-plus years, the game has really evolved into very much a puck-pursuit game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sullivan pointed to the Carolina Hurricanes and the two-time defending-champion Florida Panthers as shining examples, noting that \u201csome of the best teams in the league have the highest dump-in rates.\u201d More and more coaches are willing to chip pucks behind the defense and let their players chase it, using speed and tenacity to apply pressure and win possession back deep in opposing territory.<\/p>\n
The 57-year-old Sullivan \u2014 a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Team USA\u2019s head coach for the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics \u2014 has taken many of those elements and woven them into his own system, which brings to New York with the hope of reviving the Rangers following a calamitous 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n
A pillar of that system will be a swarming forecheck modeled after some of the NHL\u2019s best puck-pursuit teams, with nuances that require every skater to read and react on the fly. But Sullivan also recognizes that the Rangers\u2019 top players \u2014 the likes of Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad \u2014 won\u2019t benefit from battling for possession all game. The puck needs to be on their stick as much as possible, with the new coach\u2019s philosophies aimed at creating more opportunities to play fast, attack in transition and generate extra possessions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe identity that we\u2019re trying to build here is a little bit of a hybrid game,\u201d Sullivan explained. \u201cWe want to keep the puck. When we have it, we\u2019ve got some talented guys. We don\u2019t want to just turn into a dump-and-chase or a chip-and-chase team by any stretch. We want to keep the puck as often as we can, but we also have to be willing to put pucks behind people. We\u2019ve got to be willing to make a high flip once in a while and chase a puck down.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think if we do that, we\u2019ll have the ability to create offense in different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n
A forecheck built on \u2018cooperative pressure\u2019<\/p>\n
While reviewing tape in recent years, one particular play has caught Sullivan\u2019s attention: the \u201chigh flip,\u201d where a player flicks the puck up and over oncoming defenders to create a race for possession behind the opponent\u2019s net.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat didn\u2019t exist 20 years ago,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cIf it did, it was an exception, not the rule. We call it a punt, to steal a football term. That\u2019s a common play in today\u2019s game, whether it be off a defensive-zone faceoff, or teams \u2018punt and hunt,\u2019 where they make a high flip, it bounces somewhere, and there\u2019s a speed game pursuing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once the pursuit begins, Sullivan will deploy the Rangers in a 1-2-2 forechecking system, with a few wrinkles. He wants the lead forward \u2014 commonly referred to as \u201cF1\u201d \u2014 chasing the loose puck and hounding the nearest opposing player, a standard practice league-wide. But cohesive support behind the F1 is equally important.<\/p>\n
\u201cA foundational aspect of that is predictability, and what I mean by that is all five guys on the ice know what their jobs are,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cI\u2019ve always said to players that isolated pressure is a lot easier to beat than cooperative pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n
That cooperation starts with a second layer of pressure that requires the other two forwards to take away passing options and fill gaps. If the puck carrier advances past the F1, the next-closest man should go on the attack and reapply direct pressure. And if the F1 keeps the puck carrier in check, then the next two forwards are charged with blanketing the nearest man in an effort to intercept the pass, deflect it, or force it elsewhere entirely.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of just one man in, one man out,\u201d said veteran forward Conor Sheary, who\u2019s competing for a roster spot with the Rangers on a professional tryout agreement but spent parts of four seasons with Sullivan in Pittsburgh, including both Cup runs. \u201cIn a sense, it\u2019s man-on-man. You go after your guy, but you\u2019re always having someone cover for you. So, once the puck moves, you\u2019re staying above the puck. You never want to give up odd-man rushes, so you always have people reloading, especially the forwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about backing each other up and just trying to stay above the play.\u201d<\/p>\n
The third layer comes in the form of the two defensemen. They, too, are asked to press forward when needed, but they\u2019ll often be positioned along opposite walls. The pressure from the three forwards is designed to funnel opponents to the outside, where the defensemen should be waiting to pinch down, disrupt the play and, hopefully, flip possession.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s certain reads that they\u2019ve instilled into our forecheck,\u201d Sheary said. \u201cThere\u2019s only so many things (the opposing team can do). They can go weak side, strong side or up the middle, essentially. So, within all those breakouts, I think we have something to counteract that and read off that.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a significant change from the 1-3-1 forecheck the Rangers ran under previous coach Peter Laviolette. That system also required the F1 to aggressively pursue the puck, but it left him on an island. The other two forwards, plus one defenseman, were charged with sitting back to create a neutral-zone trap. The Rangers had some early success using it to clog the middle of the ice, but too often got caught flat-footed and were left vulnerable to odd-man rushes.<\/p>\n
The result was an average of 15 shots allowed off the rush per 60 minutes at five-on-five, according to Evolving Hockey, which ranked 31st out of 32 teams.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cMost teams are going to break out against one forechecker,\u201d Zibanejad said. \u201cSo now, all of a sudden, you\u2019re facing them coming up ice as you\u2019re coming up ice. They\u2019re basically coming right at you with possession and control. It\u2019s hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Sullivan\u2019s system, the Rangers plan to be the aggressors. They want to force opponents into mistakes \u2014 a situation they\u2019ve found themselves on the wrong side of far too often in recent seasons \u2014 and to generate quick-strike scoring chances in return.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the surface, it might suggest that, \u2018Hey, if we\u2019re going to be aggressive up the ice with a puck-pursuit game and a forecheck, there might be risk involved.\u2019 And potentially there is,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cBut the way that I look at it, there\u2019s also risk involved and in just retreating and playing on your heels and letting your opponent dictate the terms and spending more time in your end zone. When you think about team defense, it can take place different ways. It doesn\u2019t necessarily just mean in your own end.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the best teams, their team defense starts in the offensive zone with their puck-pursuit game and their forecheck. They play on top of you. They make it harder for you to earn ice.\u201d<\/p>\n
D-zone coverage better suited for personnel<\/p>\n
Not only did the Rangers struggle to muster a consistent forecheck and slow opponents down in transition last season, but they were just as bad in their own end.<\/p>\n
In 2024-25, New York ranked 28th in the NHL with 2.76 expected goals-against per 60 and 29th with 12.2 high-danger scoring chances allowed per 60, according to Natural Stat Trick.<\/p>\n
Those poor numbers speak to issues protecting prime defensive-zone real estate, such as the net-front and slot areas. It\u2019s been a problem for years, and while world-class goalie Igor Shesterkin was able to mask it for a while, the dam finally broke.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Roster construction is certainly part of the problem, with a group of forwards that lacks plus defenders and a core of defensemen short on quality depth behind Fox. But those issues were exacerbated by Laviolette\u2019s man-on-man coverage. He simply didn\u2019t have the chess pieces to chase opponents all over the ice without losing a step or getting lost in traffic, resulting in a seemingly endless string of breakdowns and confusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what the numbers were the first year (under Laviolette in 2023-24) when we made it to the conference finals, but I feel like we still had a lot of those games where we gave up a lot (of high-danger scoring chances),\u201d Zibanejad said. \u201cYou see that when you\u2019re playing against man-on-man and someone loses an edge, or someone gets beat, it\u2019s open. Now, all of a sudden, you\u2019re scrambling because you don\u2019t know who\u2019s going to cover who. Because if I\u2019ve got to cover for the guy who fell, or I\u2019ve got to cover for the guy who got beat, I\u2019ve got to leave my guy. But who\u2019s taking my guy now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Under Sullivan, New York will switch to a zone defense in its end. Zibanejad acknowledged the potential for leaks in the new scheme, as well, noting some of the ways the Rangers have used passing plays to uncover weak spots against opponents who play zone. But most players believe the benefits will outweigh those negatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not like a man-on-man system, where you\u2019re just chasing your guy the entire shift,\u201d center Vincent Trocheck said. \u201cA lot of times, whenever you are doing that, it does take away energy from your offense. Any time you do turn the puck over, you might not have the legs to get to offense. Whereas in this system, it\u2019s more reading and reacting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trocheck explained that \u201ceverybody has a quadrant\u201d within the structure of the zone. The two wingers cover the top halves of each circle up to the blue line, while defensemen section off their own areas down low on either side of the net. The center is left to roam, support, and hunt for takeaways.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe center\u2019s kind of in the middle of the ice, but this (system), it gives them a little bit less space, where the wingers are still able to cut off the top,\u201d Trocheck said. \u201cThey\u2019re able to cut off that pass from low to high to the D. And then if there is a breakdown, there\u2019s situations where you have to read and react, and the center is kind of the guy who is in the middle of the ice reading everything. If there is an opportunity to jump on a puck, you go.\u201d<\/p>\n
To make it work, Sullivan stressed the importance of having all five skaters on the same page. Whether discussing the forecheck, breakouts or D-zone coverage \u2014 all areas where the Rangers must improve if they plan to bounce back this season \u2014 the coach always brings it back to \u201cpredictability.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConviction\u201d is another key word. Sullivan and his assistants in New York spent all those hours watching film to draw inspiration from the successful coaches around the league and determine the best path for their new team. There are reasons to feel optimistic about the system they\u2019re bringing, but their biggest challenge, as it was for their predecessors \u2014 including former head coach and current Sullivan assistant David Quinn \u2014 will be making sure the Rangers execute it consistently.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy feeling on man-on-man vs. zone defense is, it all depends on what your personnel group is,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cWe looked at all the elements of the game and try to pick our own game apart. Figure out what we think is in the best interest of the Rangers, and then we make decisions from there. I think there are pros and cons to any system that you implement. I think they\u2019re all effective when executed properly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a matter of selling a certain message as a coaching staff, teaching it the right way, and then buying in \u2014 commitment to play in the game a certain way. And the onus there falls on me as the coach.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Photo: Bruce Bennett \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TARRYTOWN, N.Y. \u2014 Every summer for the last decade, Mike Sullivan and his coaching staff have scoured video…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[4823,385,99],"class_list":["post-197330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-new-york-rangers","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}