2025-26 New York Rangers Season Preview – The Centennial Edition
It’s been nearly six months, but New York Rangers hockey is back! This season, the Rangers will be celebrating their centennial anniversary.
Last month, the Rangers named JT Miller to the role of captain. After things ended badly with Jacob Trouba last year, the Rangers’ locker room was in disarray. Now, the coaching staff has been revitalized, with Mike Sullivan at the helm and David Quinn, Joe Sacco, and Ty Hennes by his side.
The Rangers traded for JT Miller midway through last season, and he made a statement as soon as he returned to the team that drafted him. He is a superstar on this Rangers team, and he represents an identity of physicality, which is long overdue for this franchise. Hopefully, Miller can lead a team of gritty Blueshirts and do damage in their 100th season.
One thing the Rangers must focus on is putting last season behind them. The Rangers endured an epic collapse last year after starting their season strong, but the personnel on and around the team are different now.
This year’s squad will lack familiar faces like Chris Kreider and Ryan Lindgren, but it features budding young talent like Noah Laba. There are also some new veteran faces like defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, who will pair nicely with Adam Fox as the team’s primary defensive unit.
This preseason wasn’t particularly impressive, as the Rangers posted a 2-3-1 record, but many young players got a chance to shine. One of those youngsters was the 22-year-old center Noah Laba, who recorded a team-high six points in six games. He also killed penalties effectively, earning himself a spot on the Rangers’ roster this season.
Rookie Gabe Perreault, who debuted for the Rangers late last season, also posted six points in training camp, but he didn’t earn himself a spot on the team’s Opening Night roster. That doesn’t mean he won’t receive another call-up, though.
Special teams will look a bit different for the 2025-26 Rangers, particularly on the power play. 2020 first-round pick Alexis Lafrenière has not lived up to expectations yet during his time in New York, and reports suggest he’ll start the season on the second power play unit. However, head coach Mike Sullivan was quick to say that Lafrenière will be the first player moved to the first power play unit if something goes awry.
It doesn’t feel like this Rangers’ team is going to win it all, but they have the right pieces and the right foundation to be a solid playoff team. And right now, that’s enough. This is a new era of Rangers hockey. The old core has toppled. The old coaching staff is out.
Everything is new, new, new on Broadway. And that’s always exciting.
Opening Night Roster & Final Predictions:
Expect the Rangers’ Opening Night lineup to look like this:
Forwards:
L1: Artemi Panarin (A) – Vincent Trocheck (A) – Alexis Lafrenière
L2: Will Cuylle – JT Miller (C) – Mika Zibanejad (A)
L3: Jonny Brodzinski – Noah Laba – Taylor Raddysh
L4: Adam Edstrom – Sam Carrick – Matt Rempe
Defensemen:
D1: Vladislav Gavrikov – Adam Fox (A)
D2: Carson Soucy – Will Borgen
D3: Urho Vaakanainen – Braden Schneider
Goalies: Igor Shesterkin (S)
Jonathan Quick
It’s time for the 100th season of Rangers hockey.
Schedule:
2025 NHL Opening Night – NYR vs. PIT; ESPN
