The Rangers have raced out to a 6-3-1 start, and the early story of their season has been played out in their own end. At Madison Square Garden, they’ve been perfect at 5-0-0, with the home-ice version of this team looking especially sharp on both sides of the puck. Their offense has been far better in New York than it has been away from home, and that gap is something they’ll have to sort out as the year goes on.
Even with the 7-1 road loss to the New Jersey Devils hanging in the background, the bigger takeaway is that the defense has been consistent. Dylan Garand has handled the load in net after Igor Shesterkin’s season-ending lower-body injury, but he’s not carrying the load alone. The skaters in front of him have been making a real impact, and three of them in particular have helped define the Rangers’ defensive edge.
Will Cuylle is one of those players. The forward already has back-to-back 20-goal seasons on his resume, but what stands out most right now is the way he plays without the puck.
He’s brought a heavy, physical edge to the lineup, mixing in bone-crushing hits and even dropping the gloves this season to spark his team. Cuylle leads the Rangers with 43 hits, good for second in the NHL, and his 895 hits since the 2023-24 campaign rank third in the league over that span.
The improved depth on the blue line has also played a major part. The Rangers reshaped their second defensive pairing this season, and the result has been a steadier look on the back end. Sean Durzi, one of the additions in the return package from the Utah Mammoth in exchange for Vincent Trocheck, has settled in as a second puck-moving defenseman behind Adam Fox, who has nine assists this season.
Durzi has also made his mark by disrupting plays. His six takeaways are tied for sixth-most in the NHL, and that kind of puck pressure has given the Rangers another layer on defense.
Vladislav Gavrikov has added another important piece to the equation. The No. 1 left-handed shooting defenseman, paired with Fox, is tied for ninth in the League with 23 blocked shots. When players at the top of the lineup are willing to throw their bodies around and absorb the hard minutes, it makes the buy-in from everyone else that much easier.
That combination has pushed the Rangers’ defensive play to a higher level. If the skaters in front of Garand keep this up, his transition into the No. 1 role gets a lot less demanding.
In Other News...
Rangers Suddenly Have A Tye Kartye Decision They Didn't Expect
Tye Kartye arrived in New York as a waiver claim from Seattle, the kind of low-risk pickup teams make to deepen a roster and see if a hard-working winger can carve out a niche. Instead, the undrafted left winger has quickly turned into much more than depth, earning trust with the Rangers for the way he competes, handles his defensive responsibilities and helps steady the kind of line that can tilt a game.
What makes the situation interesting is how quickly Kartye has moved from hopeful addition to someone the staff has to keep in a meaningful role. His fit with the clubs top offensive players has already changed the conversation around what the Rangers thought they were getting, and now the bigger question is whether this early stretch is a real sign of staying power or simply the latest surprise in a season that is still taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Sean Durzi Solves One Rangers Need While Exposing Another
Sean Durzi has already given the Rangers what they hoped to get when they brought him in over the summer: a steadier blue line and a presence that seems to fit naturally in the room. The comparison to Vincent Trocheck is obvious enough for anyone around the team. Both are similar in build, both play with a similar edge, and both come with the kind of workmanlike reputation that tends to travel well in New York. Durzi has also brought a little of the same personality and energy that made Trocheck so useful to the Rangers beyond the stat sheet.
What the move has also done, though, is shine a brighter light on the other side of the ledger. Trochecks departure left a hole down the middle, and the Rangers are feeling the effects in their center depth as the season goes along. Durzis past injury history is part of the broader picture too, because the Rangers know the upside is real but the margin for error is thin when a player has had to battle through health issues before. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Hot Start Still Hasnt Solved One Bigger Problem
The Rangers strong start has done plenty to build optimism in New York, but it has not yet changed the way star players view the organization when bigger decisions come up. Dylan Larkin has reportedly widened his trade wishlist from three teams to 10, and the club on Broadway still is not on it, a reminder that early-season momentum does not automatically make a team a destination for elite talent.
The latest list apparently does include several familiar Eastern Conference names, with the Hurricanes, Devils and Capitals among the teams Larkin is open to. For the Rangers, that leaves a familiar kind of frustration: they can look like a contender on the ice and still find themselves on the outside when the leagues top names start narrowing their options. [Read more 🡒]