The season that was for the New York Rangers was nothing short of a nightmare that began with struggles on home ice that had even the most forgiving fans of the club left in complete bewilderment.
Not only did the Rangers ultimately suffer six home shutout losses, the most in team history, but they also came nowhere close to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, marking the second time in the last three years that they failed to play beyond the regular season. It’s a far cry from where the club was at this point two years ago, coming off winning the President’s Trophy as the NHL’s best regular-season club and advancing to the Eastern Conference Final.
They also traded away superstar forward Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings for a rather paltry return, not long after GM Chris Drury informed him that the club would not be offering him a new contract. However, there is reason for optimism for Rangers fans moving forward.
Bleacher Report Paints An Optimisic Picture For New York Rangers Fans
According to NHL Insider Lyle Richardson of Bleacher Report,
“Since the mid-point of the 2024-25 season, the New York Rangers have been retooling their roster. Out went notable players such as Artemi Panarin, Jacob Trouba, Chris Kreider, Kaapo Kakko, and K’Andre Miller. In came J.T. Miller, Vladislav Gavrikov, and Will Borgen through trades and free agency.
The Rangers also promoted younger talent from within their system into the lineup in 2025-26. They included promising forwards Gabe Perreault and Noah Laba. Prospects Liam Greentree and Malcolm Spence could one day follow them into the lineup.”
Richardson goes on to mention that Drury could use current roster players as trade bait in order to acquire better talent.
“General manager Chris Drury still must bolster his top-six forwards and improve his blue-line depth, especially on the left side. He could pursue younger players in the trade market to address those issues over the long term,” he wrote.
“The Rangers have $26.6 million in projected salary-cap space with 20 roster players signed. They have two picks in the first round of this year’s draft as possible trade bait, with their own sitting fifth overall. Drury could also dangle center Vincent Trocheck and defenseman Braden Schneider.”
Head Coach Mike Sullivan Pulled No Punches After Their Season Ended
Head coach Mike Sullivan, who led the Pittsburgh Penguins to consecutive Stanley Cup victories in 2016 and 2017 and then was hired by the Rangers last offseason as the replacement for Peter Laviolette, didn’t pull any punches when asked about his emotions once the season came to an end.
“They’re mixed, you know? They’re mixed right now,” Sullivan said of his emotions. “I just think, obviously, we’re not in the position that we had hoped to be in or where we want to be. And from that standpoint, we’re all disappointed, and we all have to take ownership for it, myself included.”
“There’ll be a process that we’ll go through to try to figure out how we can do a better job in the positions that we’re in, in order to try to put this team in a better position moving forward,” he continued.
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