On Day 9 of president and general manager Chris Drury’s hunt for a new head coach of the Rangers, Mike Sullivan’s departure from the Penguins changed everything. The “eyes wide open” coaching search that Drury said he wouldn’t have any “preset dispositions” on suddenly turned into immediately targeting and aggressively pursuing one specific coach.

Matt Cullen: "He was super direct, and it didn’t matter if you were Sid or a guy on the fourth line, the expectations were super clear."

He knows Sullivan. He knows the star players who have thrived under Sullivan, namely Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang with the Penguins. He knows what the Rangers didn't do last season. He knows what Sullivan will bring to them.