Close followers of the Rangers know there are many ways to spin the team’s outlook this season. There is a wide range of potential outcomes. There are also many concerns about the New York Rangers. Yet almost everyone agrees the team has a major long-term issue at center. The New York Rangers center problem remains the single biggest issue.
New York Rangers insider Vince Mercogliano, of The Athletic, is convinced the team will look outside to solve their issues at center. Mercogliano recently identified it as potentially New York’s biggest concern.
Where the Rangers are Today
In some ways, it’s easy to look at the moves the Rangers made and see how they make sense in the short term. Some experts praised the organization’s moves, including former Rangers goalie Martin Biron. Others, like former Ranger Mike Rupp, see concerns with how the Rangers are built for this season.
If things break favorably, which they very well could, the Rangers in 2026-27 will be fine down the middle. Harmany Dayal of The Athletic recently ranked the Rangers 21st in his review of the 32 NHL teams and their top-six centers. Teams like Calgary, which don’t have a proven top-six center, were ranked last.
The Rangers were placed in the ‘below average’ tier by Dayal, primarily because of the weak season J.T. Miller had in 2025-26. After starting as a point-per-game player in his return to New York in 2024-25, Miller labored through an injury-riddled 2025-26. His two-way game, particularly at five-on-five, seemed to take the biggest hit.
A healthy Miller, with all the improvements the team made around him, could bounce back. He might not be a point-per-game player anymore, but thinking he could land in the 70-point range with significantly better defensive metrics is not a stretch. It’s not a stretch, at least, for one season. Miller and Zibanejad are both 33 and were born one month apart. They’ll both turn 34 before the season ends. No matter how many talented players the Rangers acquire, this is a ticking time bomb.
Internal Options to Defuse the New York Rangers Center Problem
The Rangers don’t really have any of these, which is the problem. Young centers Noah Laba and Cole Beaudoin, acquired in the Vincent Trocheck trade, project more like bottom-six pieces. Joe Veleno, recently signed away from Montreal to a one-year deal, is a clear-as-day fourth-line center. The other center prospects in the organization are longshots, including analytic darlings Mikkel Eriksen (2025 fourth-round) and Thomas Chrenko (2026 third-round). Relying on any of those players to defuse this ticking time bomb doesn’t seem like an option.
The other option, which is both internal and external, is going through the draft. The problem, Mercogliano writes, is that the Rangers likely raised their floor too much this offseason to realistically land a top center in what’s expected to be a center-heavy 2027 NHL Draft.
“The best way to find one who can impact your roster for an extended period is through the draft, with the odds much better the higher you pick. The 2027 class should have exciting options near the top — Alexis Joseph, Jonah Neuenschwander and Milan Sundström, to name a few — but the Rangers’ offseason actions indicate they have no intention of picking in the top five again next year.”
Did the Rangers Already Lay the Groundwork for a Center Trade?
Mercogliano notes candidates that he believes are ‘obvious,’ like Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Leon Draisaitl and Robert Thomas. It’s not a lock that any of these players leave their current teams. There’s also no guarantee any of them would want to come to New York after two dismal seasons. Still, any one of these players would instantly solve the long-term New York Rangers center problem.
Potentially, the Rangers may have quietly been laying the groundwork to go after their first-line center of the future for years. One of the richest teams in hockey with no qualms spending to the cap, the Rangers are poised to have significant salary cap space in the next two seasons. The projected cap in 2027-28 is $113.5 million, which leaves the Rangers with nearly $36 million in space. When it rises to $123 million in 2028-29, the Rangers will have more than $54 million, according to PuckPedia.
The Rangers will have decisions coming on players like Will Cuylle, Gabe Perreault and Noah Laba. That will eat into some of the space. Yet this Rangers retool has quietly reinvigorated a stalled prospect system with a multitude of depth pieces on entry-level contracts or close to signing entry-level contracts.
GM Chris Drury has also shown that, if the deal is right for him, he’ll easily part with premium draft capital. Since January 2025, Drury has used four top-10 protected first-round picks to acquire J.T. Miller, Pavel Dorofeyev and Marcus Pettersson.
Mercogliano thinks that a trade is the most likely solution for the center-starved Rangers, though notes that it will be a ‘herculean’ task.
An Off-the-Board Solution to the New York Rangers Center Problem
It won’t be the worst problem to have if the Rangers wind up being good this season. It will make them more attractive to players like Dylan Larkin, who is trying to force his way to a team closer to winning than Detroit. In past seasons, the Rangers were a destination for players like Rick Nash and Martin St. Louis. If the Rangers can prove they’re relevant again, attracting a top-end player looking for a fresh start will be much easier than it is at present.
That’s not the only off-the-board option. The Rangers could target teams like Buffalo, where a trade could be mutually beneficial. The Sabres have drafted so well that a surplus would allow them to trade one to help other parts of the roster.
Elsewhere, a savvy team like the Nashville Predators, praised for their off-season, saw how they could leverage cap space to acquire center Mavrik Bourque from cap-strapped Dallas. This option feels less likely at the moment, since only seven teams are currently above the cap floor for 2027-28. That should, eventually, change.
There is a problem with that potential plan. The Rangers could certainly try to replicate what Nashville did to acquire Bourque. They, in theory, have the capital to make a swing. The protected first-round picks they already traded present a problem. The Rangers would have less leverage to try and threaten with an offer sheet, harming their overall trade leverage.
The solution is likely not in the organization. That’s why it’s going to be tricky trying to solve the New York Rangers center problem.
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