The New York Rangers are off to a 7-3-1 start through 11 games, and that alone says plenty about how quickly this season has turned around. After finishing with the worst record in the Eastern Conference in the disappointing 2025-26 campaign, the Rangers attacked the offseason with urgency and came back with a much better-looking roster.
Those summer moves have paid off early, with the team getting help up front and on the blue line. New York has looked like a completely different group so far, and that has not stopped the front office from being tied to possible upgrades as the season unfolds.
One name that keeps coming up is Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings. He would fit a clear need for the Rangers, and he would make them better offensively. But even with the latest reports that Larkin has widened his trade list to 10 teams from the three he originally preferred, New York still is not among them.
That is the part that stands out. The Rangers were bad last year, but this is no longer the same team that was sitting near the bottom of the conference. They have changed the conversation with their start, and yet that apparently has not been enough to put them on Larkin’s radar.
There is also a case to be made that the fit is obvious. The center spot has been discussed as a long-term need in New York, and both Mika Zibanejad and J.T.
Miller are not getting any younger. Larkin, 30, would give the Rangers a younger impact option down the middle.
New York has also had to handle a major setback with Igor Shesterkin going down for the season with an injury, but Dylan Garand has stepped in and played well. The rest of the team has raised its level too, and the defense has been strong.
For now, though, the Rangers remain on the outside looking in when it comes to Larkin. His expanded list makes a move seem more possible in general, but New York still is not in the mix, and that keeps the pairing unlikely, even if the team’s strong start has made the idea a little surprising.
In Other News...
Rangers May Have A Sneaky Answer To Their Center Depth Problem
With injuries thinning the roster and Igor Shesterkin already lost for the season, the Rangers have been looking for ways to stabilize the middle of the ice, especially after Joe Veleno went down. One of the quieter answers may be Luke Glendening, a veteran center whose reputation has long been built on reliability, detail and the kind of depth presence teams lean on when the lineup starts to fray.
Mike Sullivan pointed to Glendenings experience as part of what makes him appealing in this role, especially for a team trying to preserve both structure and identity while waiting for healthier days. The fit makes sense on paper for the No. 4 center job, and now the question is whether the Rangers see enough to keep moving forward with him as more than a temporary look. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Sullivan Is Challenging A Rangers Debate Fans Already Feel
Mike Sullivan is already nudging into one of the Rangers familiar gray areas: how much trust to place in defensive numbers when they do not line up neatly with what coaches see on the ice. As training camp and roster evaluation grind on, Sullivan has stressed that context has to matter when looking at the blue line, especially when certain pairings are being used in harder defensive situations against stronger opposition.
One pairing he highlighted was Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi, the new second pair he believes has supplied solid minutes even if the underlying metrics do not always flatter them. It is the kind of debate that can shape how the Rangers are judged internally and by fans, because the team will keep trying to balance analytics with the more traditional eye test while sorting out who really fits where on defense. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Prospect Pipeline Has One Encouraging Sign Fans Should Notice
A handful of Rangers prospects in Europe kept their seasons moving last week, and the most encouraging signs came from players starting to show a little more offensively. Tom Chrenko has been part of HK Nitras recent winning stretch in Slovakia, Ivan Patrikhayev is back in CSKA Moscows lineup with more ice time and an assist, and Mikkel Eriksen added his second SHL goal for Frjestad BK, all useful reminders that the system still has young players making progress in different leagues.
Rico Gredig also got into action for EV Zug in Switzerland and put three shots on goal, while Samuel Jung skated for KalPas U20 team in Finland as he works his way back from a concussion. For the Rangers, the bigger takeaway is less about any single box score and more about seeing several prospects stay active, contribute in different ways, and keep building momentum overseas while the club continues to track its pipeline. [Read more 🡒]