Mike Sullivan’s first year behind the Rangers bench ended with a hard truth attached to it: New York was supposed to be chasing the playoffs, and instead it finished with the worst record in the Eastern Conference.
That kind of season leaves a mark, even when there are pockets of progress. The Rangers did show some encouraging signs under Sullivan, especially with a handful of young players, but the overall result was still a frustrating debut for the coach who arrived after 10 seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins and two Stanley Cup titles.
Early on, Sullivan’s team looked cleaner without the puck than the Rangers had the year before. New York did a better job limiting slot chances and odd-man rushes, which was a real step forward from the defensive problems that plagued the club under Peter Laviolette in 2024-25.
But the improvement in structure never fully showed up on the scoreboard. The offense simply didn’t do enough to turn those tighter games into wins.
Through the first 35 games, the Rangers were held to two goals or fewer 19 times and were shut out in seven of those games.
The roster problems piled up from there. Mika Zibanejad had a great season, but captain J.T.
Miller struggled. Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin both missed extended stretches with injuries, and when Shesterkin was sidelined, Jonathan Quick couldn’t hold the line in goal.
Once that happened, the Rangers slipped well out of the playoff picture. General manager Chris Drury then moved Artemi Panarin, who was in the final season of his contract, to the Los Angeles Kings.
Even with the season heading off course, the back half brought a few bright spots. Gabe Perreault earned a look on the top line with Zibanejad and was excellent late in the year.
Alexis Lafreniere, after an early slump, also found his game on that line. Down the lineup, rookies Adam Sykora and Jaroslav Chmelar were called up from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League and brought physical play while adding some offense in bottom-six roles.
Sullivan still gave veterans like Conor Sheary regular ice time even after the Rangers were far removed from the playoff race, but he gradually leaned more on the younger group as the season progressed. That shift helped close the year on a better note. The emergence of the young forwards and rookie defenseman Matthew Robertson stood out as one of the few positives in a 34-39-9 finish.
Now the pressure changes. The Rangers have made several offseason moves, adding Pavel Dorofeyev, Sean Durzi, and Marcus Pettersson in separate trades and signing Oliver Bjorkstrand to a one-season contract. Dorofeyev is the obvious offensive swing, after scoring 35 goals in 2024-25 and 37 goals last season.
There’s also more help coming on the blue line. Sullivan had a sturdier defensive structure last season than the Rangers showed in 2024-25, but once Fox got hurt, there wasn’t another offensive defenseman the team could lean on.
Durzi and Pettersson could give New York a much stronger second pair, and Durzi has the skill to chip in offensively. On top of that, the Rangers drafted defenseman Alberts Smits fifth overall in the 2026 NHL Draft, and he has a chance to crack the lineup and contribute.
Sullivan’s challenge now is straightforward, if not easy: sort out the lines, pairings and special teams with a roster that has changed a lot. If he gets that part right, the Rangers should be better.
For his first season in New York, Sullivan gets a C+. The injuries mattered, but so did the fact that he didn’t get enough out of some of the team’s biggest names.
Finishing last in the East was a disappointment. With more depth now in place, the Rangers are hoping year two looks a lot different.
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Now the real work is less about recovery and more about earning a place in a crowded bottom-six picture. Rempe is set to compete for one of those limited spots against younger forwards such as Jaroslav Chmelar and Adam Sykora, which makes camp a meaningful test rather than a formality. For a player still trying to reestablish himself, the battle ahead feels like the sort that can shape not just his role, but his immediate future with the Rangers. [Read more 🡒]