New York Rangers preview, predictions for 2026-27 NHL season

Before this past season, the last time the New York Rangers finished 30th overall was … never. That's right, since the NHL expanded to 30 teams back in 2000-01 and subsequently to 31 and now 32 teams, the Rangers never reached the kind of nadir they did in 2025-26.

Only two teams had worse records than the Rangers (34-39-9) — the woeful Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks . No team is the Eastern Conference had fewer points than New York's 77. That point total was 22 behind the Ottawa Senators , who claimed the final wild-card spot in the East, and the fewest by a Rangers team in a non COVID-shortened season since 2017-18, when they also had 77 points.

Somehow, without as much off-ice drama, the Rangers still finished with eight fewer points last season than the one prior, which was a complete trainwreck and one of most dysfunctional in recent memory.

So, general manager Chris Drury called for a retool — not rebuild — this past January, though in reality that process seemed to be underway with the dismantling of the 2024 Eastern Conference Final squad before and during the 2024-25 season.

But since going public with the retool strategy, Drury and the Rangers moved out Artemi Panarin , Vincent Trocheck , Sam Carrick , and Will Borgen , among others. Landing on Broadway are Pavel Dorofeyev , Marcus Pettersson , Sean Durzi , Oliver Bjorkstrand , Eeli Tolvanen , Joe Veleno , Joonas Korpisalo , and 18-year-old rookie Alberts Smits . Not to mention there's now a deeper, more robust prospect pipeline.

The Rangers do look a lot better on paper, that's for sure. But are they good enough to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in three years, or will they improve just enough to be stuck in the League's mushy middle of teams that are pretty good, but not real Cup contenders?

Depth was a major issue last season, especially when injuries hit some of their best players. Adam Fox missed 27 games with two extended injury absences. Matt Rempe missed most of the season. J.T. Miller sat out a string of games, but, perhaps worse, looked like he played hurt almost all season. Trocheck was out for a month. And the house of cards came crashing down when No. 1 goalie Igor Shesterkin missed 13 games before the Olympic break and the Rangers lost 11 of them.

So, yes, good health matters this season. That's a difficult thing to control. So, the Rangers did the next best thing and put together a deeper roster at both the NHL and AHL levels. Plus, they addressed two key areas — solidifying and improving their second defense pair with Pettersson and Durzi, and creating a faster, deeper, more skilled bottom-six forward group.

The latter lengthens the lineup, something Mike Sullivan believes will help take the load off — and bring out the best in — 33-year-old top-six centers Mika Zibanejad and Miller. Especially after trading Trocheck, the Rangers aren't going anywhere if Zibanejad and Miller aren't playing their best and producing. A big step forward by 3C Noah Laba is key too.

All of that is well and good, but the Rangers need their stars to produce, even outside of the top-two centers. Dorofeyev scored 72 goals the past two seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights and needs to be at least in that 35-goal range despite not having Jack Eichel as a linemate.

If Alexis Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault each build off their strong finishes last season and take big strides forward, that'd go a long way in helping the Rangers get back into the playoff picture.

The defense should be much better, and Shesterkin remains one of the best in the world between the pipes. The power play that finished fifth in the League last season could be even better with Dorofeyev joining the top unit with Fox, Miller, Zibanejad, and Lafreniere. That second unit looks much better with Durzi running point with Bjorkstrand, Tolvanen, Perreault, and Will Cuylle .

And, c'mon, there's no way they'll replicate last season's home-ice misery, when they won only 14 times at Madison Square Garden.

With all or most of these things going their way, the Rangers absolutely should be better than in 2025-26. Perhaps even good enough to get back into the postseason.

Notice that there are a lot of "ifs" in the positive Rangers outlook for this season. A lot needs to go right for the Rangers to make the playoffs, though, admittedly, it's hard to see them crashing and burning as badly as they did a year ago.

But, unfortunately, there's a crash and burn path, too. If last season's downturn in production for Miller isn't just a one season aberration, the Rangers could be in deep trouble. Ditto for Bjorkstrand and Tolvanen. And what if Dorofeyev loses even a bit of his magic without Eichel and Mitch Marner setting him up?

That'd be big-time trouble for the Blueshirts.

Want more reason to be concerned about this team? Zibanejad was on a two-year downturn before course correcting last season, when he led the Rangers with 34 goals, 78 points and was named team MVP. If he pivots the other direction again? Yeah, not so good.

Lafreniere and Zibanejad had great great chemistry down the stretch last season. But didn't we think Lafreniere and Panarin would make magic together forever after they combined for their best NHL seasons as linemates in 2023-24? Didn't quite work out that way.

Did we mention that Miller and Zibanejad are both 33? Or that Fox was hurt twice last season and played only 55 games? And we didn't mention all the games Durzi missed with the Utah Mammoth the past two seasons.

Age is a thing. So are injuries. And let's not even get into what happens if Shesterkin misses any serious time — no matter how improved the goalie depth is with Koripsalo and Dylan Garand .

The point here is not suggest these things are going to happen, nor not that anyone wants it to happen. But more so that the Rangers have a thin margin for error this season. And let's face it, s*** happens with this team, or it most certainly did the past two seasons.

And for all the good work Drury did building up the bottom-six forward group, the Rangers don't have nearly enough high-end offensive talent. Plus, the Rangers didn't adequately replace Trocheck, an invaluable two-way center who played 22 minutes a night and was among their best players on each side of the puck.

Forever Blueshirts staff predictions for Rangers in 2026-27 season

Rangers : 5th in Metro; 10th in Eastern Conference; Do not qualify for Stanley Cup Playoffs

I'll cut right to the chase here, since I already laid out most of the landscape — good and bad — above. The Rangers are going to be better, hang in the playoff race all season, and crack 90 points. But they're going to fall short of securing a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third season in a row because they will just miss out on finishing in the top-three in the Metropolitan Division and an automatic postseason bid. The two wild cards are coming from the Atlantic Division, limiting the Blueshirts chances for a postseason berth. Most of the newcomers will make a positive impact, but the Rangers will really miss Trocheck.

Stanley Cup champion : Panthers defeat Avalanche

Rangers : 6th in Metro; 11th in Eastern Conference; Do not qualify for Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Rangers will be better than they were last season – an admittedly low bar after they finished last in the East and third from the bottom in the overall NHL standings. Drury added a legit sniper in Dorofeyev and created a competent second defensive pair with Pettersson and Durzi. Signing Tolvanen was a nice move as well. They need Shesterkin and Fox to stay healthy. If either one misses any substantial amount of time, as was the case in 2025-26, the Rangers are done like dinner.

But missing the playoffs by so many points last season means the Blueshirts have a huge hill to climb. In the Metropolitan Division, the Hurricanes are the defending Stanley Cup champs, the Devils and Capitals made major improvements and the Penguins and Flyers are coming off playoff seasons. The Atlantic Division produced five of the eight playoff teams in the East last season – and that didn't include the Florida Panthers , who will have star center Aleksander Barkov back after missing all of last season with a knee injury, plus a certain newcomer named Brady Tkachuk .

The Rangers won't finish last in the East again. But it's hard to see how they avoid a third straight non-playoff season.

Stanley Cup champion : Canadiens over Avalanche

Rangers: 3rd in Metro,; 7th in Eastern Conference; Lose second round of Stanley Cup Playoffs

The bar for improvement is low after a disastrous 2025-26 campaign, but I'm optimistic the Blueshirts take a meaningful step forward this season. New York will have a more dynamic blue line thanks to the additions of Pettersson, Durzi, not to mention Smits, the 2026 No. 5 overall pick, breaking camp on the NHL roster. The forward group remains full of question marks, but Dorofeyev is the type of pure goal scorer this club hasn't had in years. Playoffs are on the table for the Rangers, though it will likely have to come via a top-three finish in the Metro, as a deep Atlantic Division could seize both wild-card spots. Still, in a Metro division that doesn't have any true powerhouse clubs beyond the reigning Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes , such a feat is well within reach. Of course, that's only if Fox, Shesterkin, and centers Zibanejad and Miller stay healthy throughout the 84-game season.

I've got the Rangers edging the New Jersey Devils for third in the division, behind the Metro-winning Hurricanes and second-place Washington Capitals. Shesterkin can steal a first-round series for New York, but any postseason run likely ends there.

Stanley Cup champion : Canadiens defeat Avalanche

Rangers : 5th in Metro, 12th in Eastern Conference; Do not qualify for Stanley Cup Playoffs

One of the best parts of being one of the worst teams in the League is that, when the next season rolls around, the bar for improvement is very low. That's the case for the Rangers this year, but there should also be reason for optimism beyond 2026-27. Adding Petterson and Durzi instantly improve New York's team defense, a key reason why Shesterkin is my pick as team MVP. The Rangers will still likely be sellers at this year's deadline (Bjorkstrand, Veleno, Raddysh), but those moves will clear the way for young players to play key minutes down the stretch, as New York's youth movement will (hopefully) take another step forward.