The Rangers open the 2026-27 season Tuesday night against the Boston Bruins, and after a brutal year that ended with a last-place finish, this group is trying to turn the page fast.
New York spent the summer aggressively reshaping the roster, and while some of those moves were aimed at the future, the roster for this season looks stronger than the one that missed the playoffs for a second straight year. Getting from last place to playoff contender is no small jump, but that’s the climb in front of them now.
The biggest question is which players can drive that rise. A few names stand out, and the optimism starts with Gabe Perreault.
The former first-round pick found his stride late last season after moving onto the top line, and over the final 23 games he put up 19 points with nine goals and 10 assists. It was a promising stretch for the young winger, though still just a slice of a full season.
If he carries that level over for an entire year, the Rangers will have something real.
Alexis Lafreniere is another player who closed last season on a high note. Skating with Perreault and Mika Zibanejad, the former first overall pick produced one of the best runs of his career and also earned a spot on the top power play.
At 24, he may have shown the version of himself the Rangers have been waiting for. If that late surge sticks, a career year - maybe even something close to a point-per-game pace - is in play.
Then there’s Pavel Dorofeyev, the summer’s most significant addition. The Rangers landed the 25-year-old from the Vegas Golden Knights after he scored 37 goals last season, and there’s been some concern about whether he can keep that pace without the supporting cast he had in Vegas.
New York may not offer the same level of playmaking, but Dorofeyev is expected to be a featured option. He’s set to begin the season on the second line with J.T.
Miller and Oliver Bjorkstrand, though a move to the top line could come quickly. He also looks like a major piece of the power play, and a 40-goal season is not out of the question.
In Other News...
New Look Rangers Face One Brutal Reality In The Playoff Race
Chris Drury spent the offseason trying to give the Rangers a noticeably different look, and the overhaul is hard to miss. New arrivals such as Oliver Bjorkstrand, Eeli Tolvanen, Sean Durzi, Marcus Pettersson, Alberts Smits and Joonas Korpisalo are meant to raise the floor after a frustrating finish near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, giving New York more balance and more options as it tries to climb back into relevance.
The problem is that improvement in the standings is only half the battle in the Metropolitan Division, where the race for playoff spots is likely to be unforgiving again. The Rangers should be better than they were a year ago, but the gap between looking improved and actually getting back into the postseason is still a real one, and it is the sort of margin that can turn even a busy summer into only the first step of a much harder climb. [Read more 🡒]
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 🡒]