Rangers, assistant Michael Peca split ways after Mike Sullivan hire

Assistant coach Michael Peca will not return to the Rangers’ bench next season, The Post confirmed Thursday.As reported by The Fourth Period, the 51-year-old Peca is set to join new Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill’s staff after spending the last two seasons with the Blueshirts.After discussions with both Peca and new Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan, according to a source, the organization felt this was the best decision for both parties.The Rangers are still working through filling out the remainder of their coaching staff, which will include holdovers in goalie coach Jeff Malcolm and skills coach Christian Hmura.Peca, who is moving on from his first assistant coaching gig in the NHL, deserves a bulk of the credit for the Rangers’ improvement on faceoffs.Through the last two seasons, the Rangers own the fifth-highest faceoff win percentage (52.9) in the NHL.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mollie Walker about the inside buzz on the Rangers.

This after a decade of finishing below 50 percent each season.“When we picked the staff, there were reasons why we picked certain people and certainly Michael Peca has had success in the faceoff circle,” ex-head coach Peter Laviolette said in October 2023, referencing Peca’s career faceoff percentage of 51.4.“[He’s] able to help players I think with regard to that and so there’s a lot that goes into it, the preparation for a game with faceoffs and working out on the ice.So far there’s bee early success.”Peca was also responsible for the Rangers power play, which was incredibly strong in Year 1 before dropping off — along with many other aspects of the Rangers game — in Year 2.

The Rangers owned a No.3-ranked power play in 2023-24 (26.4) and fell all the way to 28th this past season (17.6)....