2026-27 New York Rangers Season Preview
The New York Rangers, who begin their 101st season tonight against the Boston Bruins, have nowhere to go but up.
Last season was such a disaster that midway through, general manager Chris Drury announced a retool. An offseason and an ownership change later, the Rangers are back for their second season under Mike Sullivan. Many familiar faces are returning to Broadway, plus a few key newcomers, including new owner Quentin Drury.
The Rangers’ objective this season is to return to relevance. They are not expected to make the playoffs, but in a weak Eastern Conference, they still have a shot.
First, though, they must earn the right to form an identity.
Last year, after the front office broke up the core that won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2024, the team struggled offensively. The Rangers shed several goal-scorers from their roster without replenishing the lost offense, so this outcome was logical.
But this year, in the first full season since Drury’s second letter, the Rangers have more thump in their lineup. They acquired Pavel Dorofeyev, who scored at least 35 goals in each of his last two seasons. He is only 25, but ranks in the 93rd percentile in shot speed.
Dorofeyev comes from the Vegas Golden Knights, a team that epitomizes dots-down offense. Last year, Dorofeyev ranked in the 97th percentile overall in shots on goal and in the 95th percentile in high-danger shots. This makes him a valuable piece for a Rangers team that is trying to become a threat down low.
Throughout training camp, head coach Mike Sullivan emphasized the need to generate more net-front offense. Having a gameplan that revolved around Artemi Panarin, who thrives from long range, didn’t bode well for this model. But after the Rangers traded him to Los Angeles, things started to change.
This is not a coincidence. The Rangers spent most of last season trying to mold smaller-body forwards into physical goal-scorers, one of Sullivan’s biggest focuses in his first full season at the helm. But the organization did not prioritize this style of offense. The 2024 Presidents’ Trophy-winning squad mainly worked from the perimeter.
The Rangers were much better in the final third of last season. Without Panarin, younger players like Alexis Lafrenière, Will Cuylle, and Gabe Perreault stepped up. Mika Zibanejad scored the most while JT Miller faded and Adam Fox dealt with injuries, but toward the end of the season, some younger Blueshirts showed promise.
For years, the Rangers couldn’t take the next step in the playoffs because they didn’t play with enough physicality. Sullivan, who will coach in his 1000th NHL game tonight, knows that in this league, especially in tight playoff games, goals come by setting screens, crashing the net, and shooting hard.
Last year, the Rangers’ roster wasn’t built for this type of offense. As a result, they consistently fell behind in shots on goal, so they started pressing. That led to repeated mental mistakes, defensive disasters, and a last-place finish in the Eastern Conference.
Last year’s roster started as one of the oldest in the NHL, but this organization’s future depends on youth. This is why the Rangers traded for Dorofeyev, and why 18-year-old Alberts Šmits made the Opening Night roster. Hopefully, the fifth-overall draft pick fares better than former early picks Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafrenière.
If the Rangers score more goals this season, their defensive issues will solve themselves. Goaltending is covered, since Igor Shesterkin is one of the league’s best netminders. Jonathan Quick retired last season, so the Rangers imported Joonas Korpisalo as Shesterkin’s backup.
More net-front physicality means more shots on goal, which means more goals, which means less pressing, which means an added willingness to get back on defense, which means fewer goals against, which means more wins. It’s a simple formula, although difficult to implement, so the Rangers must embrace it from puck drop tonight.
The Rangers must act with more urgency this season. If their lineup struggles to score or prevent goals, Sullivan must change it quickly. This team is vulnerable. Last year’s habits could easily resurface. If the Rangers spend the whole season correcting mistakes, they will never earn the right to form an identity.
Stanley Cup-winning teams have identities. They can be fast and deceiving like the Colorado Avalanche, big and scary like the Florida Panthers, or remarkably consistent defensively like the Carolina Hurricanes.
If the Rangers make the playoffs this season, it will probably be because they formed an identity. But to do that, they must win games, which means scoring more goals than last year, embracing a new offensive structure, and being willing to defend.
Projected Opening Night Lineup:
Forwards:
L1: Gabe Perreault – Mika Zibanejad (A) – Alexis Lafrenière
L2: Oliver Bjorkstrand – JT Miller (C) – Pavel Dorofeyev
L3: Will Cuylle – Noah Laba – Eeli Tolvanen
L4: Tye Kartye – Joseph Veleno – Matt Rempe
Defensemen:
D1: Vladislav Gavrikov – Adam Fox (A)
D2: Marcus Pettersson – Sean Durzi
D3: Alberts Šmits – Braden Schneider
Goaltenders:
S: Igor Shesterkin
P: Joonas Korpisalo
Schedule
8:00 PM (7:00 PM CDT): NHL Opening Night – NYR at BOS; ESPN, ESPN App
