John Tortorella won’t be returning to the Rangers bench after all.
There was quite a bit of speculation about the coaching staff, and it became clear that Tortorella would not be taking on a third coaching role in New York.
Apparently, he did have some discussions with the Rangers, as reported by ESPN, but it looks unlikely that he’ll be joining Mike Sullivan’s team.
After Sullivan and the Penguins parted ways on April 28, he quickly emerged as a top candidate for the Rangers’ head coach position.
This led to more chatter about whether Tortorella could potentially step in as an associate coach, given that Sullivan had previously held that role while Tortorella was in charge.
Tortorella has a history with the Rangers—he took over as head coach in the last four games of the 1999-2000 season and was the main coach from 2009 to 2013.
During his time there, he had a solid record of 171-118-1-29.
Interestingly, both teams collaborated for the Team USA project in the Four Nations Face Off Tournament held in February. Sullivan was the head coach while Tortorella served as his assistant, which some felt could make them a suitable pair for the Rangers.
It’s also worth noting that Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury had the role of assistant general manager for Team USA.
Sullivan was officially announced as the 38th head coach in Rangers history on Friday.
