The Rangers may have done plenty to deepen the roster this offseason, but the latest ESPN top 100 list still lays bare the same old issue: New York has impact players, just not a long list of truly elite ones.
That doesn’t mean the summer was wasted. The front office had real money to work with for the first time in a few years, and it used that flexibility to add speed and more offensive upside.
The early returns have been encouraging, too. Through four games, New York is 3-1-0 and has already found more success at home than it did last season.
Still, when ESPN’s panel released its ranking of the NHL’s top 100 players, the Rangers showed up only twice. The good news for New York is that the two names are the kind of cornerstones every team would want: Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox.
Shesterkin’s placement is the eyebrow-raiser. He comes in at No. 35, a steep fall from No. 14 at this point last year. For a goalie who remains one of the best in the world, that drop stands out even more because three other netminders landed ahead of him: Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy, Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck and the Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin.
Shesterkin did deal with injuries last season, but the source of his value never really changed. When he wasn’t on the ice, the Rangers’ play cratered. That’s the kind of presence that still makes him one of the league’s defining goalies.
Fox, meanwhile, held steadier ground. He’s up one spot from No. 52 to No. 51, and that lands him as the No. 11 defenseman in the NHL.
That fits. Even with injuries of his own last season, Fox remains an elite power-play quarterback and one of the most productive defensemen in the league.
For New York, the message is pretty clear. The roster looks better, the depth is improved, and the early results reflect that. But the Rangers’ ceiling still leans heavily on Shesterkin and Fox, and right now both are doing their part to keep the team rolling.
In Other News...
Rangers Hot Start Already Comes With One Third-Line Concern
The Rangers 4-1-0 start has given them plenty to feel good about early in the 2026-27 season, but the third line has already become a spot worth watching. Noah Laba, coming off his rookie year, has had a quieter second turn so far, and the lines overall impact has not quite matched the pace of the team around it.
New York has also brought up Cole Beaudoin, and his first NHL game offered enough promise to make him part of the conversation going forward. If he keeps building on that debut, the Rangers could have a real decision to make about how they want that third-line mix to look, which is not a bad problem this early in the schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers May Have Found Defensive Stability Faster Than Anyone Expected
Alberts mits has already become a notable part of the Rangers early surge, stepping into the lineup and helping steady the back end while the team has gone 4-1 in the five games he has played. The young defenseman has handled meaningful minutes right away, and the organization seems to be seeing exactly the kind of calm, reliable play it hoped would come as he adjusts to the NHL.
Mike Sullivan has not treated mits like a protected rookie, either, giving him nearly 15 minutes a night and trusting him in regular defensive work instead of hiding him from tougher situations. For a player still learning the league, the speed of that transition matters, and it suggests the Rangers may have found more stability on defense sooner than they expected. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Blue Line Suddenly Looks Like A Real Strength Again
The Rangers spent the offseason trying to rebuild the back end, and early on it looks like the plan is paying off. Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson arrived in separate trades, while rookie Alberts Smits joined the organization as a first-round pick, giving New York a very different look on defense from the group that was leaned on so heavily last season. The result has been a steadier, more balanced lineup that has helped fuel a four-game winning streak after the season-opening loss.
Adam Fox is also part of why the blue line feels less overtaxed, with the Rangers able to spread responsibility more evenly across the defense corps. The improved structure has taken some pressure off the top pair and given New York a better defensive rhythm overall, which is exactly what the team was hoping to find when it reshaped the unit this summer. The real question now is whether that early stability can hold once the schedule stiffens and the minutes get heavier. [Read more 🡒]