Former Rangers head coach David Quinn is rejoining the team...

Former Rangers head coach David Quinn is rejoining the team as an assistant under new coach Mike Sullivan. Credit: Richard Harbus

Former Rangers head coach David Quinn is returning to the organization as an assistant on Mike Sullivan’s staff, the Rangers announced Thursday.

Quinn will be joined on the staff by Joe Sacco and Ty Hennes. Goaltending coach Jeff Malcolm and skills coach Christian Hmura remain as holdovers from Peter Laviolette’s staff.

Quinn, 58, served as the Rangers’ head coach during their rebuilding period, from 2018 to 2021, and posted a 96-86-25 record. In his second season, the Rangers were challenging for a playoff spot when the season was halted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They made the 24-team bubble playoffs but were swept by Carolina in three games.

General manager Chris Drury fired Quinn after taking over from the fired duo of John Davidson and Jeff Gorton following the 56-game 2021 season. The Rangers went 27-23-6 and failed to make the playoffs.

After leaving the Rangers, Quinn coached the U.S. Olympic team and world championships team in 2022 before taking the job as coach of the rebuilding San Jose Sharks for two seasons. He was unexpectedly fired in 2024 by GM Mike Grier, a close friend and college teammate of Drury’s at Boston University, and resurfaced last season as an assistant to Sullivan, a close friend, with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Several Rangers played for Quinn when he was the head coach. Mika Zibanejad became a two-way No. 1 center under him and Adam Fox, Igor Shesterkin, K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere made their NHL debuts under him. Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin and Jonny Brodzinski played for him, too.

Sacco, 56, served as interim coach for the Boston Bruins last season after Jim Montgomery was fired in November. He had been a Bruins assistant for 10-plus seasons before being promoted, and before that was the Colorado Avalanche coach for four years and an assistant for a year in Buffalo. He played 13 pro seasons for five teams, including 98 games for the Islanders in 1999, and, like Quinn, Sullivan and Drury, played college hockey for Boston University.

Hennes, 45, went to Boston College and played minor-league hockey for four seasons before starting his career in coaching. He broke into the NHL with the Penguins under Sullivan as the skills coach and was promoted to assistant coach after four seasons, serving for two seasons before joining Sullivan in New York.

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