For the New York Rangers, it was Mike Sullivan or bust in terms of their head coaching search.

It was speculated that the Rangers could possibly take multiple weeks before naming a new head coach, but the second Mike Sullivan became available earlier this week, Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury pounced on the opportunity.

It was no secret among other tea’s around the NHL that the Rangers were heavily pursuing Sullivan.

Rangers Officially Hire Mike Sullivan To Be Head Coach, Bringing ‘Championship-Level Presence’ Mike Sullivan will officially become the New York <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers/" target="_blank">Rangers</a>’ 38th head coach. 

“Chris Drury is known for being pretty secretive, he keeps his cards close to the chest,” Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today said. “He’s known around the league for not really revealing what he’s thinking, but it was well known around the league that Mike Sullivan was at the very top of his coaching wish list, not just this year, but in previous years as well.”

Drury showed how much he believes in Sullivan by reportedly giving him the highest annual salary for a coach in NHL history according to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan.

There was a sense that if the Rangers weren’t able to land Sullivan that their coaching search would take a turn for the worst.

“I think the Rangers would have considered it a failure and it would have been looked upon industry-wide as a failure if the Rangers hadn't convinced [Sullivan] to be their next head coach,” Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said.

There’s nothing to worry about now as the Rangers got their guy in hopes that he can help turn around the franchise.

Rangers Did Not Keep Interest In Mike Sullivan A Secret Among Other NHL Teams