Will the Rangers' roster overhaul result in a return to the playoffs?
Rangers captain J.T. Miller is congratulated by his teammates after scoring goal against the Islanders during a preseason hockey game at the UBS Arena on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. Credit: Errol Anderson
With the NHL season set to begin, optimism abounds within the Rangers’ freshly retooled locker room.
“Definitely excited,’’ defenseman Adam Fox said with his team set to open the season on Tuesday in Boston. “A lot of change . . . a lot of new faces. But with that comes a little bit of excitement to see what it brings. I think [training] camp’s been good, and you know, when you have the long offseason that we had, I think you start itching to get back. And I think we’re all pretty excited to get going for real here.’’
It seems like ancient history, but it was only two years ago that the Rangers were coming off a Presidents’ Trophy-winning season and an appearance in the Eastern Conference Final. Now they are coming off two straight seasons missing the playoffs.
After announcing in mid-January that he would “retool’’ the team, general manager Chris Drury significantly revamped the roster. He traded franchise stalwarts Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck and brought in a flood of newcomers, led by 25-year-old sniper Pavel Dorofeyev and 18-year-old defenseman Alberts Smits.
After a shortened preseason in which his overhauled roster had to jell quickly, coach Mike Sullivan said he is looking forward to taking on the NHL’s freshly expanded 84-game schedule
“Right now, we feel good about where we’re at,’’ he said after the Rangers finished their preseason Friday night with a 6-1 win over a young Islanders squad. “We’ve made a lot of progress in the short time we’ve been together here. I think the energy around the team is really positive and enthusiastic, and we’ve got to continue to keep that energy through some of the challenges that this league presents.’’
The roster Sullivan will have to work with entering the season is very different from the group that ended last season. The opening night lineup in Boston could have eight newcomers dressed, a 40% turnover from last season. Besides Dorofeyev, acquired from Vegas in a blockbuster trade on draft day, and Smits, who was selected with the fifth overall pick less than an hour later, Drury imported a brand-new second defense pair, getting Sean Durzi from Utah in the Trocheck trade and sending a future first-round pick to Vancouver to get Marcus Pettersson, who had played for Sullivan with Pittsburgh.
Drury traded for goaltender Joonas Korpisalo to back up Igor Shesterkin, who returns for his eighth year. Drury also signed free-agent wing Oliver Bjorkstrand (who has scored at least 20 goals six times), fourth-line center Joe Veleno and winger Eeli Tolvanen.
Captain J.T. Miller will start the season skating with two new linemates in Dorofeyev and Bjorkstrand and hoping to find chemistry quickly. The trio, which was put together on Day 1 of training camp, produced two even-strength goals in the preseason by Dorofeyev and Bjorkstrand. Miller added a power-play goal.
“We’ve never touched the ice together [before camp],’’ Miller said. “But I thought over the last two [preseason] games that we’ve liked a lot of what we’ve done. We created some good looks . . . They’re fun to play with. I try to get pucks back for them and stay out of their way.’’
The Rangers cannot repeat last season’s start, in which they were shut out in their first three home games and went 0-6-1 in their first seven at Madison Square Garden
No. 1 center Mika Zibanejad, the longest-tenured Ranger, said the early home struggles last season did get into the players’ heads.
“Yeah, we’re human beings,’’ he said. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a thing that you thought about. You try not to, but . . . ’’
He’s hoping for a better beginning this season. “Obviously, you want to get off to a good start,’’ he said. “But I think 31 other teams want to get off to a good start as well.’’
Rangers send 3 players to Hartford. The Rangers announced Saturday that forwards Anton Blidh and Glenn Gawdin and defenseman Marc Del Gaizo have been assigned to the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack. The Nashville Predators claimed defenseman William Trudeau off waivers from the Rangers.
3 keys for Rangers' season
1. Good health
Every team, in every sport, would point to this as a key to their chances. But in the Rangers’ case, injuries to defenseman Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin last season were simply devastating. They were 2-11 in the 13 games the two players both missed in January-February, and they were also hurt by missing Vincent Trocheck for 14 games early in the season, following lung surgery. Captain J.T. Miller started the season with a lower-body injury suffered in the last week of training camp, and played hurt for most of the season.
2. Miller time?
At times last year, Miller seemed burdened by the weight of the captaincy. He admitted before the season he’d never envisioned himself being a captain, and getting hurt before the season started didn’t help matters. A year later, though, he seems more at ease with his position in the locker room. On the ice, starting the season on a line with sniper Pavel Dorofeyev could revitalize him, and help him have a much-needed bounce-back season.
3. A fast start
The Rangers got off to an awful start last season. They were shut out in their first three games at home, and were 0-6-1 in their first seven games at the Garden. They never recovered from that. It absolutely cannot happen again.
Beat writer’s prediction: 42-31-11, 95 points. Fourth in Metropolitan Division.
Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice, shame on us. We won’t get fooled again. They’ve improved the talent and depth on the roster, but the East is deep. They’ll miss the playoffs for a third straight year.
Colin Stephenson has covered the Rangers since 2018.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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