The New York Rangers spent the last two years living in the uncomfortable space between collapse and contention, and Chris Drury has acted like a man who refuses to sit still there any longer.
As team president and general manager, Drury has kept choosing the same lane at every crossroads: push for the short term, keep the roster relevant, and build around Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox instead of tearing the whole thing down. He could have been more protective of the club’s first-round picks this summer.
He could have chased a more future-focused return for Vincent Trocheck. He could have passed on J.T.
Miller in January 2025. And when he sent a memo to fellow GMs in November 2024 saying he was willing to move key veterans - a clear sign he didn’t view the core as good enough to win the Stanley Cup - he still stopped short of a full teardown.
That approach has defined the Rangers’ recent moves. The Trocheck trade with the Mammoth brought back defenseman Sean Durzi, who is expected to slot onto the second pair behind Fox.
Drury also used premium trade assets to land Pavel Dorofeyev and Marcus Pettersson, then added Oliver Bjorkstrand, Eeli Tolvanen and Joe Veleno in free agency to flesh out the forward group. Heading into the 2026-27 season, the club is trying to turn that collection into something sturdier than what it rolled out last year.
The stakes are obvious because Drury has already gone all-in on a win-now vision. He traded for Miller, a player he had long wanted, giving up what became the No. 12 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft to get him, then named him captain six months later.
He brought in Mike Sullivan, a two-time Cup-winning coach, and signed Vladislav Gavrikov last summer. Then, in January, he made the team’s direction plain in a letter to fans: “This will not be a rebuild.”
That means the clock is already ticking. The current roster does not look like a true championship contender on paper, but it does have enough quality to be competitive.
The real question for this season is simpler than a title chase: can the Rangers be respectable again? Can they look like a serious hockey club in a Metropolitan Division where playoff spots are there to be claimed?
Drury needs that answer to be yes. If it isn’t, the process gets harder to defend, especially as Miller, Mika Zibanejad and Shesterkin continue to age.
The past two seasons have already left the Rangers with the sixth-fewest points in the league over that span, and another year like either of those would be a tough sell to fans who have watched the team slide so quickly. It could also matter to owner James Dolan and his son Quentin, who is entering his first year in an expanded role with the organization.
This version of the Rangers is also much more Drury’s team than the one assembled by Jeff Gorton and John Davidson, whose fingerprints remain on most of the rosters that reached the Eastern Conference final in 2022 and 2024. Drury has spent aggressively, and now the bill is part of the story.
The Rangers sent out three first-round picks - Dallas’ 2026 selection and their own in 2028 for Dorofeyev, plus a 2030 first for Pettersson - and those 2028 and 2030 picks are top-10 protected before becoming unprotected the following year. If this team keeps stumbling, those bets could age badly in a hurry.
Still, there is a path to a better season. Shesterkin gives them elite goaltending.
The defense in front of him should be stronger with Durzi and Pettersson added to a Fox-led group, and the back end ought to move the puck more cleanly and spend less time pinned in its own zone. If the team stays healthier than it did during the injury-hit 2025-26 season, Braden Schneider and others won’t be forced into roles too high on the depth chart.
Up front, the Rangers are thinner in proven skill after losing Artemi Panarin and Trocheck from last year’s opening-night lineup. But those openings could create room for Gabe Perreault, 21, and Alexis Lafrenière, 24, to take bigger steps. Dorofeyev should also help immediately after scoring at least 35 goals in each of the past two seasons, and New York is counting on that kind of finishing touch.
There are also some younger names worth watching. Prospect Alberts Šmits, the No. 5 pick in the 2026 draft, could factor in this season, while players acquired in recent trades - Liam Greentree in the Panarin deal and Cole Beaudoin in the Trocheck deal - could begin earning NHL minutes.
The division itself gives the Rangers a chance to climb. Carolina, fresh off a Stanley Cup run, looks like the class of the group.
After that, the field is far less certain. The Flyers and Penguins made the playoffs last season, but neither has a roster that screams certainty on paper.
The Capitals and Devils made notable upgrades up front without making last year’s postseason, and the Blue Jackets and Islanders are still trying to break through.
That’s why this season matters so much for New York. Hope is there.
A playoff path is there. But Drury’s moves only mean something if the Rangers actually get back into the mix.
A third straight season without the playoffs would do nothing to help the organization become the kind of destination that can eventually attract the big-name talent it will need to truly contend.
The Rangers were never going to jump from lottery territory to championship threat in one summer. Their shortage of high-end forwards and center depth will take more time to fix. But Drury has spent like a man who believes the turnaround has to start now.
In Other News...
Rangers Still Have One Lineup Debate That Could Shape Everything
The Rangers forward puzzle is starting to come into focus as the season approaches, and the most interesting part is still the one that could influence everything else. There are already plenty of moving pieces to sort through, from Will Cuylles role to how the team balances speed, skill and size, but the conversation around the top six has a different feel because it is less about filling spots and more about finding a combination that actually clicks.
J.T. Miller sits at the center of that discussion, with the Rangers weighing different ways to build around him and make the rest of the lineup fit. There is also the matter of Matt Rempe, whose expected return adds another layer if he is healthy, since his size and presence could change the look of the team in a hurry. For a club trying to settle its identity before opening night, the unanswered question is not just who plays where, but which version of the Rangers they want to be. [Read more 🡒]
Jaroslav Chmela Is Giving The Rangers A Real Bottom-Six Decision
Jaroslav Chmela has turned a once-for-future conversation into a real roster question for the Rangers. The 21-year-old prospect has steadily improved, and his recent NHL call-up left enough of an impression that the coaching staff is now treating him as more than a depth name in camp. With the organization still trying to sort out the bottom six, he has become one of the more interesting players on the board.
The wrinkle is that the Rangers do not have to force the issue right away, especially with Hartford reshaping its coaching setup to help prospects keep moving forward. Chmelas development path is clearly trending up, but the next step could still come either in New York or back with the Wolf Pack, depending on how the final decisions shake out. For a player who has earned more attention with each look, that makes the coming days worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Adam Fox Puts Real Pressure On This Rangers Retool
As the Rangers head into a roster retool after finishing last in the Eastern Conference, Adam Fox sits at the center of the conversation whether the team likes it or not. He is still their top defenseman and is under contract for three more years at $9.5 million per season, which makes him both a cornerstone and a difficult piece to separate from any bigger rethink by general manager Chris Drury.
Fox did not exactly slam the door on his future when the questions started coming during the season, but he also did not offer the kind of firm commitment that quiets a market like New York. Since the year ended, his tone has been a little more encouraging, with a sense that the Rangers still have enough to build on, though the real issue is whether the organizations direction matches that optimism. [Read more 🡒]