This week’s Rangers chatter had a little more oxygen than doom for once.
On Blueshirts Breakaway, Ryan Mead sat down with Katie Baker of The Ringer, and the conversation spent plenty of time on Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walter, who has been selling stakes in sports franchises in recent weeks, along with the bigger picture around sports ownership. But the part that will stick with Rangers fans is Baker’s outlook on the team heading into the new season.
That’s notable because the conversation around the Rangers has been relentlessly bleak, with most pundits taking a hard bearish stance on both the short-term and long-term picture. Baker went the other way.
"I think partly because I'm riding the high of the Knicks, I'm not going into the season with a bad attitude," Baker said. "I'm hoping that there will be things that will be fun to root for like the new look defensive pairings and Gabe Perreault."
She also pushed back against the idea that the team should be written off so quickly, even while acknowledging why so many people are sour on the Rangers.
"I'm [kind of] amused by them being ranked last in The Athletic's organizational survey," she continued. "I almost think it's a good thing. They should use that [as a] shield to quietly do your thing early in the season."
Baker’s view is that the Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division are weak enough that the Rangers would need to stumble badly - and lose out to several teams she sees as eminently beatable - to miss the playoffs entirely.
In Other News...
Brad Richards Was The Rangers Gamble Fans Still Argue About
Brad Richards arrival in New York in 2011 felt like the kind of swing the Rangers had to take, a headline move after a long free agency chase that had plenty of teams involved. The veteran center came in on a big contract and immediately carried the weight that comes with being one of the summers premier signings, then found himself trying to fit into John Tortorellas demanding system as the expectations around him only grew.
For a while, the fit looked like it could work. Richards had a strong playoff run in 2012, but his game slipped in the seasons that followed, and his ice time shrank as the Rangers kept adjusting around him and eventually moved through coaching changes. By the time his tenure ended after a few seasons, the debate around Richards had already hardened into two camps, with some seeing a costly miss and others pointing to the contract structure as part of a broader cap strategy that made the gamble look different in hindsight. [Read more 🡒]
Sean Durzi Gives Rangers Fans A Big Reason For Hope And Concern
The Rangers went into the trade market looking for help on the blue line and down the middle, and Sean Durzi arrived as the kind of defenseman who can change the feel of a back end. He brings puck-moving ability, some offensive pop and a style that fits a team trying to get cleaner exits and more support in transition, which is why New York saw him as a useful piece for the coming season.
Durzi also comes with the sort of profile that invites both optimism and caution. His game has a track record of being affected by injuries, and his career has not yet included the grind of a full 82-game NHL season. For a Rangers team that needs stability as much as upside, the attraction is obvious, but so is the question of how much reliability they can count on once the games start to matter. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Prospect Spencer Bowes Is Forcing Fans To Take Notice
Spencer Bowes is starting to look like more than just another mid-round name in the Rangers prospect pool. The 2026 fourth-round pick turned heads in the Ottawa 67s preseason opener, building on the kind of strong play he already showed last season and into the playoffs. His progress has been tied in part to coach Dave Cameron, who has helped shape his game along the way.
The latest sign came in a lopsided win over Kingston, where Bowes made an impact at both ends of the ice and kept showing the sort of confidence that gets attention quickly in camp and preseason settings. For a Rangers organization always hunting for value in the draft, that kind of start is exactly the sort of development that makes a prospect worth watching a little more closely. [Read more 🡒]