Mike Sullivan doesn’t need long to figure out what’s staring him in the face at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers cannot afford another dead-on-arrival start at home.
Last season’s mess in their own building was brutal: New York dropped its first seven home games, five of them by shutout, and didn’t finally get a win at MSG until Nov. 10, when it beat the Nashville Predators 6-3. For a team that should be better on paper than the one that slid into the basement of the Eastern Conference, that kind of opening is not just ugly - it’s a warning sign. And now the pressure is on Sullivan to make sure this group comes out ready instead of skating in circles like it did a year ago.
The calendar doesn’t exactly offer much mercy, either. The Rangers open the season on Sept. 29 on the road against the Boston Bruins, then return to MSG on Oct. 1 to host the Tampa Bay Lightning.
That’s a tough first home test against a team still viewed as a contender even after losing Darren Radysh and Oliver Bjorkstrand this offseason. With Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy in the mix, Tampa Bay still has the kind of star power that can punish a sluggish start.
And the Lightning show up again in New York on Oct. 13.
Here’s the Rangers’ home slate through Nov. 5:
Oct. 1: vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Oct. 4: v. Utah Mammoth
Oct. 6: vs. New York Islanders
Oct. 11: vs. Vancouver Canucks
Oct. 13: vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Oct. 19: vs. Anaheim Ducks
Oct. 26: vs. Los Angeles Kings
Nov. 1: vs. Edmonton Oilers
Nov. 3: vs. St. Louis Blues
Nov. 5: vs. Philadelphia Flyers
That stretch is no cakewalk. Seven of those 10 opponents were playoff teams, and several of them bring real bite.
Utah has already improved after landing Vincent Trocheck from the Rangers, which makes that matchup a little more personal. Anaheim made a first-round run last season.
Los Angeles is hoping a full season of Artemi Panarin can push it into true Stanley Cup contention. Edmonton has Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, which says plenty on its own.
Philadelphia, meanwhile, went from being viewed as a possible lottery club to reaching the second round, helped by the additions of Trevor Zegras and Dan Vladar and by its young players stepping up.
That’s the kind of early schedule that can expose a team fast. It also makes the Rangers’ offseason decisions even more important.
Chris Drury leaned into a retool that tries to thread the needle: add players who can help now, while also bringing in prospects to restock the system. On defense, the Rangers should look better with Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson coming in via trades with Utah and Vancouver, respectively.
Those two are expected to form the second pair. The Rangers also used the fifth overall pick on Alberts Smits, and the expectation is that he’ll get his chance in New York before long.
The forward group is where the questions start.
Panarin was traded away after being set to hit free agency this summer, and Trocheck was dealt despite having multiple years left on his deal. Drury’s biggest swing came when he sent multiple first-round picks to the Vegas Golden Knights for winger Pavel Dorofeyev.
New York is betting that Dorofeyev can keep producing outside Vegas’ stacked setup, especially with the seven-year contract that pays him $11 million annually. The hope is that he can deliver 30-plus goal seasons next to Mika Zibanejad or J.T.
Miller.
That kind of outcome would go a long way toward keeping the Rangers out of the early scoring drought that buried them last season. Five shutouts in their first seven home games told the story all by themselves.
If this group is truly deeper and more complete, it shouldn’t look anything like that again. Sullivan’s job is to make the pieces fit, find the right line combinations, and put his team in position to take advantage when the other side slips.
That’s why the first month matters so much.
Sullivan was brought in to get the Rangers back to being legitimate Stanley Cup contenders, and there’s no softer way to say it: if this team stumbles out of the gate again, fan trust is going to take a hit.
In Other News...
Rangers Still Have One Lineup Debate That Could Shape Everything
The Rangers forward puzzle is starting to come into focus as the season approaches, and the most interesting part is still the one that could influence everything else. There are already plenty of moving pieces to sort through, from Will Cuylles role to how the team balances speed, skill and size, but the conversation around the top six has a different feel because it is less about filling spots and more about finding a combination that actually clicks.
J.T. Miller sits at the center of that discussion, with the Rangers weighing different ways to build around him and make the rest of the lineup fit. There is also the matter of Matt Rempe, whose expected return adds another layer if he is healthy, since his size and presence could change the look of the team in a hurry. For a club trying to settle its identity before opening night, the unanswered question is not just who plays where, but which version of the Rangers they want to be. [Read more 🡒]
Jaroslav Chmela Is Giving The Rangers A Real Bottom-Six Decision
Jaroslav Chmela has turned a once-for-future conversation into a real roster question for the Rangers. The 21-year-old prospect has steadily improved, and his recent NHL call-up left enough of an impression that the coaching staff is now treating him as more than a depth name in camp. With the organization still trying to sort out the bottom six, he has become one of the more interesting players on the board.
The wrinkle is that the Rangers do not have to force the issue right away, especially with Hartford reshaping its coaching setup to help prospects keep moving forward. Chmelas development path is clearly trending up, but the next step could still come either in New York or back with the Wolf Pack, depending on how the final decisions shake out. For a player who has earned more attention with each look, that makes the coming days worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Adam Fox Puts Real Pressure On This Rangers Retool
As the Rangers head into a roster retool after finishing last in the Eastern Conference, Adam Fox sits at the center of the conversation whether the team likes it or not. He is still their top defenseman and is under contract for three more years at $9.5 million per season, which makes him both a cornerstone and a difficult piece to separate from any bigger rethink by general manager Chris Drury.
Fox did not exactly slam the door on his future when the questions started coming during the season, but he also did not offer the kind of firm commitment that quiets a market like New York. Since the year ended, his tone has been a little more encouraging, with a sense that the Rangers still have enough to build on, though the real issue is whether the organizations direction matches that optimism. [Read more 🡒]