Mike Sullivan was brought to the Rangers not just to win games but to change the identity of the team after they missed the playoffs last season.
James Dolan made that clear again this week, when the owner said of the Rangers on WFAN, “We thought they needed a change in the coach. This coach is a culture coach, a collaborator and a builder of teams. I think that’s gonna take a little while for Mike to get in there.”
It’s hard to measure culture, but so far, the wins on the ice have been few and far between, with the Rangers far closer to the bottom of the Eastern Conference than the top.
Injuries — including recent ones to key players like Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox — haven’t helped.
Still, just where do the Rangers stand when it comes to that culture change under Sullivan and general manager Chris Drury?
Asked by The Post following Friday’s practice, Sullivan said, “It’s been a bit of a mixed bag. Just from a performance standpoint, we’d like to be in a better spot than we are. Having said that, I’m not gonna sit here and say we haven’t made progress in what we set out to accomplish.”
As Sullivan noted, part of his job was to improve how things were done with the team from top to bottom.
“I think one of the things brought up by Mr. Dolan in the discussion leading up to me joining this group was to try to build something sustainable,’’ Sullivan said. “I think that’s something I think about a lot and Chris and I have had a lot of conversations around that. There’s a process that’s taking place right now.”
That includes fundamental hockey, like playing with more structure without the puck, but also off-ice goals that Sullivan remains confident will improve the overall performance.
He noted changes to the way the team deals with nutrition and recovery on a day-to-day basis, as well as overcoming adversity, which was another point of contention Dolan said he had about last year’s team.
“We talked about creating a standard of excellence we all can be proud of and what does that mean?” Sullivan said. “We’re asking our players to embrace that and everything from the energy level, enthusiasm and the passion that we bring to practice.”
He noted it’s “not easy to do in today’s NHL. It’s a grind.”
Especially when the team is struggling, as the Rangers have for most of the season.
They head to Boston having lost five of their last six games and with the worst winning percentage in the Eastern Conference. They haven’t won a game in regulation at Madison Square Garden since Nov. 24, so maybe Saturday’s trip will help.
It comes after another discouraging loss at MSG, when the Rangers believed they played well enough to win — particularly in the third period.
“I think if we play like we did [Thursday], the majority of the time, we’ll come out on top,’’ Vincent Trocheck said.
That doesn’t do their playoff chances any good, though.
“We’re a little over halfway through the season and we know what the standings are and where we sit and how important it is to amass points this time of year,” Trocheck said, acknowledging that they need to get to around 95 points to make the playoffs. “It’s kind of a sprint till the end of the year to try to [get there]. There’s definitely urgency.”
And Sullivan is confident the winning will come, along with the process.
“You’d like to believe they’re connected at some point because you’re doing all this to gain a competitive advantage in a league that has more parity in it than there’s ever been,’’ the coach said. “We’re trying to control what’s in our power. It doesn’t guarantee success, but it certainly gives us a better chance. That’s how we feel.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
