It was evident in Mike Sullivan’s first news conference of training camp on Wednesday just how much effort he put into laying the groundwork of his relationships with his new players this summer.
For one Ranger in particular, however, the new head coach went out of his way to do so.
The Post reported in mid-June that Sullivan flew from New York to Sweden to see Mika Zibanejad, whose wife, Irma, posted about the visit to dispel rampant rumors about the future of the longest-tenured Rangers player after a tumultuous 2024-25 campaign.
Asked why it was important to connect face-to-face with Zibanejad this offseason, Sullivan cited just how important the 32-year-old forward is to the Rangers.
“I’m probably stating the obvious when I say Mika is a very important player on this team,” Sullivan said Wednesday with Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury seated beside him. “He’s an elite talent. Having coached against him for a number of years in the same division, I’ve seen an awful lot of him over the years and I know how good he can be. My hope in going to see him was to get to know him a little bit, give him a chance to get to know me. I could share some of my intentions going into this season as the head coach and how I was going to approach this opportunity we have in front of us.
“To reiterate to him the importance of building a relationship and a partnership with the players that is so essential in today’s game. I felt like we accomplished all of those things by going over to see him in Sweden. It was a great trip. I got to meet his family. I think those things are important to get to know people. We had great conversations over there. I wouldn’t have known some of the things that I know now if I didn’t go.
“For example, the relationship and the chemistry that he had with J.T. Miller, as a takeaway. I think Mika is an important player for this team. We’re going to do everything we can to set him up for success.”
In those offseason conversations, Zibanejad expressed to Sullivan that he felt he built chemistry with Miller in their 24 games on a line together last season. The newly appointed captain apparently said the same.
That probably made it easy for Sullivan to declare that he envisions Zibanejad starting the season on the wing of Miller.
Having primarily served as a first-line center for the organization over his nine years in New York, Zibanejad was moved to the wing and hooked up to Miller to try and shake the Swede out of the funk that infected a majority of his 2024-25 season.
It largely worked, with Zibanejad playing some of his better hockey of the year alongside Miller.
In 259:15 of five-on-five ice together, Zibanejad and Miller were on the ice for 14 Rangers goals and 12 against.
“Common sense would suggest that maybe we start there and see if that’s in the best interest for the group,” Sullivan said. “But there’s always going to be that conversation of, ‘Do we put Mika on the wing, or do we put Mika in the middle?’ If we put him in the middle, we arguably have three of the best centers, the one, two, three down the middle with J.T., Mika and [Vincent Trocheck]. In my mind, that’s as good as it gets.”
On breakup day, Zibanejad said what he went through mentally through the first few months of last season was the toughest stretch of his career. His game was off, his body language was off and it was evident just how much it weighed on him as the slump continued and continued.
By the end of January, Zibanejad had registered just 12 points during five-on-five play and a mere three power-play goals.
Zibanejad was simply not the No. 93 the Rangers were used to. Adding Miller to his line, however, set Zibanejad back on the right path.
So that is where Sullivan will begin in constructing the Rangers lineup.
“The challenge is, do we have what it takes to surround them with to create the balance we need and set them up for success?” Sullivan asked rhetorically. “We’re already having those conversations as a coaching staff. We’ve had some of these discussions with the players.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
