The Rangers have plenty riding on a cleaner 2026-27 season, and Alexis Lafrenière sits right near the center of that conversation.
New York has retooled around some familiar pieces, adding Pavel Dorofeyev, Marcus Pettersson, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Sean Durzi while keeping the core intact. That leaves the spotlight on the players who are already there, and Lafrenière is the one the organization and its fans are waiting to see take the next step. Six years into his NHL career, the former first-overall pick still hasn’t cracked 60 points in a season, even after what looked like a meaningful step forward in 2025-26.
That season started slowly. In October, Lafrenière managed just five points in 12 games and finished the month at minus-8.
He followed that with 15 points over the next 30 games across November and December, a solid but unspectacular stretch. The real surge came after the Olympic break, when his game finally caught fire.
March was the stretch that stood out. Lafrenière put up 19 points - nine goals and 10 assists - in 16 games, and much of that damage came while he was skating on a top line with Mika Zibanejad and Gabe Perreault. That trio outscored opponents 14-10, one of the few bright spots in a rough year for the Rangers.
By season’s end, Lafrenière had totaled 57 points, with 28 goals and 29 assists, in 82 games. That matched his 2023-24 output for his highest point total in a season, but the 60-point barrier still remained just out of reach.
This year, the setup looks better for a breakthrough. There was some uncertainty entering training camp about whether Mike Sullivan would keep Dorofeyev on the top line and push Lafrenière or Perreault down a level.
Instead, the Lafrenière-Zibanejad-Perreault trio stayed together from the start of camp and through the preseason whenever all three were available. Sullivan said he didn’t want to break up a line that had already built chemistry last season.
That continuity matters. Zibanejad’s playmaking gives the line a real engine, and Perreault is expected to make a jump in his second year on the pro roster. If that group keeps humming, Lafrenière should have every chance to push his production higher.
He also has a prime role on the top power play unit, where he’ll line up alongside Adam Fox, J.T. Miller, and Zibanejad.
Dorofeyev has been added to that mix as well, and he’s already flashed his heavy shot in the preseason. With Dorofeyev expected to be the Rangers’ top scorer, Lafrenière could benefit if he’s the one helping feed him with the extra skater advantage.
If that all comes together, the Rangers might end up with one of the NHL’s best bargains. Lafrenière is carrying a $7.45 million cap hit each year for the next six seasons.
In Other News...
Igor Shesterkin May Finally Get The Rangers Support He Needs
Igor Shesterkins rebound last season was one of the more encouraging developments for the Rangers, especially after a down year and a return from injury had raised a few questions about where his game stood. The bigger picture around him also looks better now, because New York has added more help on the blue line, the kind of improvement that can make life easier on a goalie who has spent plenty of nights facing too much traffic.
For the Rangers, that matters because Shesterkin does not need to carry quite as much if the team defends with more structure in front of him. If he stays on this track and the Rangers get back to the playoffs, the conversation around him could quickly turn into award talk again, with another big season putting him right back among the leagues elite. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Opener Brought Back An Early Fear Fans Know Too Well
The Rangers opened their preseason against Boston with the kind of ragged, low-event look that can make a coach squirm, even if it is still September. Both Igor Shesterkin and Jeremy Swayman had plenty to do as skaters on each side coughed up the puck, and the game had that familiar feel of a team trying to find its rhythm after a shortened runway into camp.
New Yorks offense never really settled in, which only sharpened the concern about readiness and timing this early in the schedule. The preseason is supposed to be a chance to shake off rust and build toward opening night, but for the Rangers, the challenge right now is less about finishing chances than simply cleaning up the mistakes that kept Boston in control. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Near-Miss May Have Changed Chris Drurys Entire Blue Line Plan
The Rangers spent part of their offseason looking hard at Alexander Nikishin, a move that would have pointed their blue-line planning in a very different direction. Even after that path closed, the bigger picture in New York kept shifting, and the front office wound up reshaping the defense with a broader set of additions that better matched the urgency of a team trying to get back into playoff form quickly.
Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi gave the Rangers more of what they needed in the moment, while Alberts Smits and Pavel Dorofeyev added to the overall roster mix. In that sense, the failed Nikishin pursuit may have mattered less for what New York missed than for how it clarified the rest of Chris Drurys approach, turning a narrow target into a more complete reset of the back end. [Read more 🡒]