The New York Rangers are heading into the 2026-27 season with plenty of room to surprise people, and a few big swings could define how this year goes. After missing the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, they’re trying to claw their way back into the picture. That opens the door for a handful of bold calls - and a few of them could change the whole feel of the season.
One of the biggest questions is whether the Rangers can build a new first line that actually scares teams. Back when they won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2023-24, most of the offense flowed through Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, and Alexis Lafreniere.
Panarin and Trocheck are gone now, but Lafreniere remains, and he closed last season looking comfortable alongside Mika Zibanejad and Gabe Perreault. If that trio opens the year together and the chemistry carries over, the Rangers may have their next true top line.
Lafreniere matched his career high with 57 points last season, with most of that production coming after Panarin was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. He also saw more consistent power-play time.
Zibanejad answered questions of his own by putting up 34 goals and 78 points, showing he can still drive a top unit down the middle. Perreault arrived in early December and never looked back, finishing with 12 goals and 27 points in 49 games.
If Zibanejad can help guide the two younger wingers while keeping his own scoring touch, this could end up being one of the league’s better lines.
Another bold call: Adam Fox gets back into the spotlight and wins his second Norris Trophy. Fox has become underrated and underappreciated around the league, especially after his rough showing in the 4 Nations Face-Off last season, which played a role in him being left off Team USA for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
But the Rangers know exactly what they have in him. Without Fox, their blue line would look rough in a hurry.
He remains a top-tier offensive defenseman and one of the most reliable players in his own end.
Fox may not put up 20-plus goals, and he doesn’t have the same skating profile as Cale Makar or Quinn Hughes, but he sees the game better than almost anyone. His Hockey IQ is the kind that changes shifts before the puck even moves. If he stays healthy, there’s every reason to think he gets back into the Norris conversation - and this prediction says he goes all the way and wins it again.
The last big swing is the Rangers finishing in the top two of the Metropolitan Division. That would be quite a turnaround after they ended up last in the Eastern Conference a year ago, but the division itself gives them a real path. The Metro is still viewed as the weakest division in the league, and that may not change much this season.
The Washington Capitals made the biggest splash, adding Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch while also bringing back Alexander Ovechkin for one more season. The Carolina Hurricanes are the defending Stanley Cup champions and will be a major hurdle too. But after those two, the rest of the division looks wide open.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers both barely reached the playoffs last season after late drops from the Capitals, New York Islanders, and Columbus Blue Jackets. Outside of Washington, none of those teams made major offseason changes to clearly raise their ceiling.
That leaves room for the Rangers if things come together. A top-two finish would put them in position to open the playoffs with home-ice advantage.
Of course, none of this is guaranteed. That’s the point of bold predictions.
But if the Rangers want to become more than a team trying to get back in the mix, their best players have to deliver. If they do, this could be the season they return to the playoffs - and maybe even make a real run.
In Other News...
Rangers May Be Heading Toward Another Painful Braden Schneider Decision
Braden Schneiders place in the Rangers long-term picture is suddenly looking less secure than it once did. The 24-year-old defenseman has not quite matched the early expectations that came with him, and with New York already carrying several blueliners on long-term deals while younger options continue to push into the conversation, his path to a steady role has become harder to define.
For a front office still trying to balance roster construction with salary cap reality, that creates a difficult kind of decision. Schneider is no longer just a player to monitor on the back end, but part of a larger equation about how the Rangers can address other needs without thinning out their defense too much, and the next stretch of his play could go a long way toward determining how aggressively management moves around him. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Could Still Make One Intriguing Move Before Camp
With training camp approaching, the Rangers are still leaving room for one more move up front, and Shane Wright has emerged as a name worth watching. The Seattle center was the No. 4 overall pick not long ago, and at 22 he still fits the kind of young, controllable talent New York has tended to value when looking to deepen its forward group. For the Rangers, the appeal is obvious: a player who could slide into a third-line center role and give the lineup another option down the middle.
How New York would get there is the part still worth tracking. Any serious pursuit would likely force the Rangers to weigh pieces from a defense corps that already has its own internal value, and that kind of decision is never simple this late in the summer. Wrights situation has opened the door for speculation, but the real question is whether the Rangers decide the fit is strong enough to part with a useful young defender before camp opens. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Sullivan Fixed One Rangers Problem But Created Another
Mike Sullivans first season behind the Rangers bench did deliver one clear change: the team became harder to play against defensively. After coming in with a more structure-first approach, he helped tighten things up on that end compared with the previous season, giving New York a more reliable foundation even as the rest of the roster kept searching for rhythm.
The problem was that the same system did not solve everything else, and the Rangers spent much of the year fighting for consistency on offense. Injuries to key players helped trigger a long losing stretch, and the lineup decisions that followed only added to the uncertainty as the club tried to balance short-term results with player development. What looked like one problem fixed quickly turned into another one waiting for answers. [Read more 🡒]