Mike Sullivan feels with some tweaks, better health Rangers can be ‘competitive team’

(Danny Wild - Imagn Images)

1 / 2

Mike Sullivan feels with some tweaks, better health Rangers can be ‘competitive team’

1 / 2

Mike Sullivan feels with some tweaks, better health Rangers can be ‘competitive team’

2 / 2

Mike Sullivan feels with some tweaks, better health Rangers can be ‘competitive team’

(Danny Wild - Imagn Images)

The Rangers’ first season under Mike Sullivan didn’t quite go as planned.

“It’s still raw,” the head coach said at Baggie Day on Friday.

While there were some positives down the stretch, it wasn’t enough to overcome a dreadful stretch that saw the Blueshirts glued to the basement of the Eastern Conference for the majority of the second-half.

“All of us are disappointed standing here today and not where we wanted to be,” Sullivan said. “From that standpoint it’s disappointing, and we will go through a due diligence process to try and get this thing in the right direction.”

With better luck on the injury-front and a couple of summer additions, the veteran head coach feels it won't be long before this team takes some strides in that direction.

“Looking at the playoff races, there were a lot of teams vying for spots down the stretch,” he said. "When you look at our team, for most of the year we were right in the hunt, so I feel like with some tweaks and getting guys healthy again, we have the ability to become a competitive team."

Even before starting the process, Sullivan is circling two key areas for potential improvements.

"We’ll have opportunities to add puck-moving ability on our blueline, and there might be opportunities to improve our bottom-six, where players might play certain roles so we can take our core guys out of those spots," he said.

"For example with the PK, if we can take Mika [Zibanejad], J.T. [Miller], [Vincent] Trocheck and other guys out of some of those situations -- even though they are very good at it -- it gives us the ability to manage their minutes which helps them sustain performance game in and game out."

Chris Drury echoed those sentiments later in the day, confirming those areas as a point of emphasis this offseason.