Chris Drury has made it clear the Rangers aren’t tearing things down. He’s trying to patch the holes, add punch, and drag New York back into the race without calling it a rebuild.
The biggest swing was bringing in and extending former Vegas winger Pavel Dorofeyev. Around him, Drury has layered in more offense with Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen, more help on defense with Sean Durzi, Marcus Pettersson and rookie Alberts Smits, and a safety net behind Igor Shesterkin in Joonas Korpisalo.
That kind of overhaul changes the shape of the roster in a hurry. Taylor Raddysh, who got top-line minutes last season, is now on waivers.
Braden Schneider, after spending a hefty chunk of last year on the top pair, is back where he belongs on the third pair. Matthew Robinson’s role has shifted from appearing in 72 games to possibly sitting as the eighth defenseman on the depth chart.
There’s also plenty of hope riding on internal bounce-backs and growth. The Rangers need healthier and better versions of JT Miller, Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin.
They need Gabe Perreault to take a step. They need Alexis Lafreniere to finally bring some consistency.
If those things come together, it’s easy to see why there’s optimism around the Blueshirts.
But optimism and playoff reality are not the same thing.
New York ended last season at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and third from last in the NHL with 77 points. Artemi Panarin, who was traded in mid-season, finished second on the team in scoring with 57 points. The gap from that kind of finish to the postseason is significant, even with a better roster on paper.
The Rangers should score more this season, and Durzi’s arrival should help them play Mike Sullivan’s attack-from-the-back style with a lot more confidence. That should push them forward. The question is how far.
A reasonable playoff target starts around 90 points. Last season, even 95 points wasn’t enough for Washington to get in, and the two years before that the cutoff sat at 91. Most betting sites have New York’s over/under between 86.5 and 88.5, which means the Rangers would need to beat expectations just to have a real shot.
The division picture doesn’t make things any easier. In the Atlantic, last season’s wild-card setup was dominated by Atlantic teams, and that may not change much.
Buffalo is expected to come back from its 109-point season but still stay in the field. Florida looks capable of rebounding, and Tampa Bay, Buffalo and Montreal are projected as playoff locks, with Ottawa and Boston in the mix for the remaining wild card.
The Metropolitan Division is even more crowded and even less forgiving. New York would likely have to jump at least four teams, and maybe five, to get in.
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia both outperformed expectations last season and finished 21 points ahead of the Rangers. Washington is expected to rebound and make the playoffs after adding Alex Tuch.
Then there are the local rivals. New Jersey and the Islanders both missed last year’s postseason, but both are projected to improve.
The Devils may miss Jacob Markstrom in goal, though they’ve added Luke Evangalista and Anthony Mantha. The Islanders brought in Matias Maccelli, and new coach Peter DeBoer is expected to firm up a defense that leaked far too much.
Their younger players should keep getting better, too.
Carolina, the reigning Stanley Cup champions, are the safest bet in the Metro. That leaves the rest of the division battling for very few spots, and the Rangers are right in the middle of that mess.
They should be better. That much is obvious. Whether they’re good enough to climb out of the pack and into the playoffs is a much harder question.
In Other News...
Rangers New Look Gets An Early Test In Boston
The Rangers new season opens quickly and with a little bit of edge, as they head into TD Garden on Tuesday night to face the Bruins in the first game of the 2026-27 NHL regular season. New York is carrying eight new players on its opening-night roster, a sign that this group is already being asked to look and feel different from the one that finished last spring.
Among the fresh faces is 18-year-old Alberts Smits, whose NHL debut adds an extra layer of interest to a roster still taking shape. The night also brings a milestone for Mike Sullivan, who will coach his 1,000th NHL game in Boston, giving an already familiar Original Six backdrop a little more weight as the Rangers get their first real test of the year. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Just Got An Early Blue-Line Boost From An Unexpected Rookie
Alberts mits arrived in camp with plenty of attention after the Rangers took him fifth overall in the 2026 NHL Draft, but he has quickly turned that into a real role on the opening-night roster for the 2026-27 season. The young defenseman made a strong enough impression in training camp and preseason play to earn a place on the third pairing, giving New York an early look at one of its most intriguing blue-line additions.
What makes the move notable is how fast the plan changed for a player many figured would need more seasoning elsewhere before settling into NHL duty. Instead, mits stayed with the main group through camp, and Mike Sullivan made it clear the rookie had done enough to belong. For a Rangers defense looking for reliability and upside, that kind of early breakthrough is the sort of development that can quietly shape the first stretch of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Missed Out On A Major Defenseman For One Reason
The NHL rumor mill keeps spinning around a Maple Leafs-Blue Jackets blockbuster that sent Kirill Marchenko, Miles Wood and Elvis Merzlikins to Toronto in exchange for Matthew Knies, Steven Lorentz, Emil Andrae and a second-round pick, with Marchenko quickly putting his stamp on the move by landing a six-year extension. But for Rangers fans, the more relevant ripple is the way another major defense-market swing came into focus, because Toronto was not the only team trying to pry a big name loose and New York had its own shot at a difference-making blue liner.
A proposed Nikishin deal to the Rangers never got across the finish line, and the reason is where the story turns from simple trade chatter into the kind of front-office standoff that can reshape a market. The contract side of the discussion stalled out, leaving the Rangers to watch a player they had clearly pursued stay elsewhere while the rest of the league continues to juggle bigger scenarios, including Carolinas interest in Connor Hellebuyck and the possibility of a multi-team twist somewhere down the line. [Read more 🡒]