Daily Report – 1/12/26
Rangers
On Saturday, I officially accepted that the end of this Blueshirts era isn’t approaching anymore. It’s here.
Saturday’s 10-2 loss in Boston was the final straw for these pitiful Rangers. The Bruins showed no remorse against a shorthanded Rangers’ lineup, caused, in part, by injuries to Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin, who would not have been able to cover up their teammates’ lack of defense. Suffice to say, the Rangers were already dead in the water.
The Rangers played like the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. They lacked brains, heart, and courage. They didn’t play defense. They only blocked nine shots. They gave the puck away 20 times. They only scored two goals. And two different goaltenders combined to allow 10 goals for the first time in franchise history since 2009.
It was a meltdown of epic proportions.
With 20 wins, 20 losses, and 46 points, the Rangers have six teams to leapfrog for a playoff position. The odds of them making the playoffs are 10.5% (Money Puck). That’s enough of a reason to sell at the deadline. Or sooner. And the biggest pieces that Chris Drury should move are Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafrenière.
Let’s face it: As hard as it would be to watch the Rangers after abandoning ship, it can’t get much worse than what we’re watching now. Panarin has a no-movement clause, which puts him in charge of negotiating a trade. However, the best thing he could do for the Rangers, with his contract expiring at the end of the season, would be to accept a mutually beneficial move.
Panarin, arguably the Rangers’ best free-agent signing in franchise history, might not return to the NHL next season. Accepting a trade would be the best parting gift he could provide New York.
Regarding Lafrenière, who recorded a team-worst -4 rating on Saturday, head coach Mike Sullivan has decided to demote the former first-round pick to the third line. 20-year-old Gabe Perreault will switch to the second line, joining Vincent Trocheck and JT Miller.
Sullivan said that Lafrenière’s disappointing performance influenced his demotion. “I think Laf is a guy that can bring more to the table for us,” he said. “Laf is another guy that cares a lot about what’s going on here. He also puts a lot of pressure on himself to contribute in a way that helps the team win. We’re trying to tweak the lineup in ways that we think give us the best chance to win, try to get the most out of certain guys.”
If you’re reading this report and you believe, even a little bit, that the Rangers can recover from Saturday’s blowout, you’re wrong. Drain all of that hope. Sure, the 2025-26 Rangers will continue to win games, but they are not going to become legitimate Stanley Cup contenders in the foreseeable future.
I hope the Rangers prove me wrong. I want to be wrong. But even Vincent Trocheck believes a rebuild might be necessary.
“Embarrassing,” Trocheck, who missed on a critical second-period penalty shot, said after Saturday’s loss. “It almost needs to be a complete reset and completely start over. We can’t do what we just did, so it’s got to be completely different than today.”
A rebuild is the only thing that would make the Rangers “completely different.”
“We should be embarrassed right now,” Trocheck added. “The solution isn’t forgetting about it. It’s to learn from it, take this game, this feeling we have in our stomachs right now, and want to never have it again.”
Of course, the Rangers should feel embarrassed. But here’s the bottom line of all bottom lines: The only way for the Rangers to recover from this loss is to (1) start defending and (2) maintain an exceptional level of defense from now through the end of the season.
However, the Rangers (1) don’t have the personnel capable of defending at a high enough level to make the playoffs, (2) don’t have the goaltending, and (3) don’t generate enough offense for their defensive efforts to matter anyway.
“We’re all grown men with pride and egos, and this is as bad as it gets,” said Captain JT Miller. “The only thing that matters now is that this should sting. This should suck. This should make you want to puke.”
Schedule
7:00 PM (6:00 PM CST): NYR vs. SEA; MSG, Gotham Sports
7:00 PM (6:00 PM CST): Yankees Hot Stove; YES, Gotham Sports
8:15 PM (7:15 PM CST): NFL Wild Card Weekend, AFC Game 3 – Houston Texans (5) at Pittsburgh Steelers (4); ESPN, ABC, ESPN App
8:00 PM (7:00 PM CST): Progressive Monday Night Kickoff; ESPN, ABC, ESPN App
