A month into the 2026-27 season, the Rangers have already handed out a lot of first impressions. Ten players have made their New York debut, though that count even leaves out goalie Joonas Korpisalo, who dressed once as a backup before a foot infection put him on the shelf.
Joe Veleno’s time was even shorter. The center got into only four games before a lower-body injury knocked him out, and the absence is expected to last between three and four months. That opened the door for rookie Cole Beaudoin and veteran Luke Glendening to debut for the Rangers, while Korpisalo’s setback gave 38-year-old James Reimer his first appearance with the club - the ninth team of his NHL career.
With those sample sizes too thin to judge, the real grading can only start with the six newcomers who have played all 14 games so far.
Oliver Bjorkstrand has been one of the clearest wins. Given a relatively limited role, he’s still found a way to be a real threat, sitting second on the team with five goals.
The 31-year-old has also posted a 56.84 percent expected goal share at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick, even though 15 teammates have logged more ice time. He’s bounced between the fourth line and the top-nine mix, while his zone starts are nearly split even - 20 in the defensive zone, 21 in the offensive zone.
Bjorkstrand has been streaky, including a pair of two-goal games in his first 14 outings, but the Rangers know exactly what they have in a shoot-first winger who has earned more chances.
Pavel Dorofeyev has been the opposite kind of storyline: all the shot volume, not nearly enough finishing. He leads the Rangers with 42 shots on goal, and he’s hit the post or crossbar plenty of times, especially recently.
But the 26-year-old, who scored 72 goals combined over the past two seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights, has only three goals in 14 games with New York. Two have come at even strength and one on the power play, where he scored 20 times last season, second-most in the league.
His 5-on-5 expected goal share is 53.33 percent, but the Rangers have been outscored 13-7 with him on the ice, and his minus-13 is the team’s worst. Mike Sullivan has already yanked him from shifts or dropped him to the third line during games because of defensive breakdowns.
If the goals start coming in bunches, that’ll wash a lot of it away.
On the blue line, Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson have given the Rangers a better second pair than what they had a year ago, but that hasn’t made the duo airtight. Sullivan has stressed that they’re taking on tough minutes against top forwards, which muddies the numbers, but the numbers still tell part of the story.
Durzi’s 45.28 percent expected goal share at 5-on-5 is a career worst, and the Rangers have been outscored 8-6 with him on the ice in those situations. He’s also on pace for 30 points over 84 games, which would be below expectation, though he has been playing through an unspecified injury for a number of games.
Durzi brings plenty of compete and is regarded as a strong teammate, but his all-around game needs to settle in.
Pettersson has posted nearly the same 5-on-5 profile, with a 45.38 percent expected goal share, since the two have spent most of their time together. He’s also been solid on the penalty kill, but offense isn’t his calling card and he has only two assists through 14 games. Even so, he’s been responsible, has 20 hits to rank second among Rangers defensemen, and averages 20:46 of ice time per game, third on the blue line.
Alberts Smits gets a different kind of evaluation because he’s 18. The rookie has gone through the usual growing pains, and he still hasn’t picked up his first NHL point, but the Rangers can already see why he went No. 5 overall in this year’s draft.
He’s shown confidence, mental toughness and physical edge, and he hasn’t let mistakes snowball the way a lot of teenagers do at this level. That said, the rough edges are obvious: a 41.16 percent expected goal share, just six shots on goal, and some poor decisions against elite competition.
He’s a work in progress now, but the long-term piece looks obvious.
Eeli Tolvanen rounds out the list, and his value comes from the less glamorous stuff. The Rangers signed the 27-year-old to a one-year, $1.5 million deal late in the offseason, and he’s already justified that modest investment as a hard-working bottom-six forward and strong penalty killer.
He leads Rangers forwards with 13 blocked shots, tops the team with a plus-5 rating, and averages 6.48 hits per 60 minutes. The downside is the scoring line: three goals and one assist, with two of those goals empty-netters.
He has only 15 shots on goal, averages 12:34 in ice time, and has been parked on the third and fourth lines with no power-play role. Tolvanen is scoreless in seven straight games and hasn’t scored in his last 10.
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