How Jay Leach’s Connection With Mike Sullivan Helped Pave Way to Rangers’ AHL Head Coaching Job

There's some history involved with this hire, as Leach was a head-coaching candidate back in 2023 before they hired Peter Laviolette.

Mike Sullivan also has a relationship with Leach. In fact, it was actually Sullivan who gave Leach his first coaching opportunity ahead of the 2015-16 season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League.

"He's a really good person, first and foremost," Sullivan said via The New York Post in 2023. "He's a great communicator. He just has a knack with relationships. I think he's a likeable person. Players gravitate towards him. He's a good leader. He's been in leadership roles when he was playing in the American League, and so he brought all of that to the coaching aspect of what he's doing now.