The Rangers were one of the first teams to learn when their 2025-26 season will begin. The league announced Monday that New York and new coach Mike Sullivan will host Pittsburgh, his former team, on Oct. 7.
We’re still a long way away from that, but y’all still have plenty of questions about the team. Time to dig in for part one, and be on the lookout for part two next week.
Some questions have been edited for clarity and length.
With the Vladislav Gavrikov signing and the immediate return from the K’Andre Miller trade, have the Rangers done enough to improve the defense for a legitimate run this year? — Robert B.
That’s the ultimate question, isn’t it?
From my perspective, the Rangers are in a better situation to contend for the playoffs than they were last season. Sullivan should help behind the bench, plus New York will have a full year of J.T. Miller. Gavrikov will fit in well on defense, and the team can hope for bounce-back years from the likes of Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafrenière.
Even with all of that, this team lacks the depth of true contenders, especially since many of those clubs also have the edge in top-end skater talent (though not goaltending). Going into the year, the Panthers, Maple Leafs, Lightning, Capitals, Hurricanes and Devils all feel like more complete teams than the Rangers, though I could see regression from Washington. If those six teams make the playoffs, that means New York is fighting for one of two remaining spots. Ottawa, Montreal, Detroit and Columbus should also be in a similar tier as the Rangers, and I expect the Bruins — whose defensemen had awful injury luck last season — to bounce back, too.
The Rangers have the advantage of playing in the Metro, which is weaker than the Atlantic. My guess is they are in the hunt to make the playoffs, but I won’t view them as Stanley Cup contenders until they make a few more upgrades. And if some of their players who are 32 years old and up — Artemi Panarin, Trocheck, J.T. Miller and Zibanejad — show major signs of aging, the team could have big issues.
Will Juuso Pärssinen get a fair shot at third-line center? I was impressed with his game at the World Championships. — Larry S.
From everything I’ve heard, the Rangers still think highly of Pärssinen after acquiring him at the trade deadline. President and general manager Chris Drury re-upped him for two years at $1.25 million — a decent-sized price for someone who has never been a consistent presence in an NHL lineup. That contract indicates he will get a look at 3C.
Pärssinen didn’t show much after joining New York. Former coach Peter Laviolette made the young forward a healthy scratch in 12 of the 23 games he spent with the Rangers after coming over from Colorado. The Finn had five points in 11 games, but all of those came in his final three games, when New York was either eliminated or all-but eliminated. Still, he’s only 24 and, as you mentioned, is coming off a solid Worlds showing for Finland (five points in eight games). Pärssinen’s best stretch came with the Predators in 2022-23, when he had an extended run centering Filip Forsberg and had 20 points in his final 29 games. He’s yet to come close to that level of production since.
As I’ll touch on next question, New York has limited cap space to add before next season, so Sullivan will likely have to start the year using an internal option at 3C. That could mean Pärssinen, Jonny Brodzinski or Sam Carrick, or the Rangers could use Mika Zibanejad at center and play either him or Vincent Trocheck on the third line. That would make the team’s center depth better, but come with a trade-off on the wing.
I am wondering if you are hearing anything on the Rangers looking to get another bottom-sixer like a 3C (maybe Florida’s Evan Rodrigues?), or have you heard they are about done? — Anonymous U.
The Rangers have around $777,000 in cap space, according to PuckPedia, but Drury could create up to $1.69 million more by sending a defenseman and forward to the AHL. That would give New York just shy of $2.5 million in space, enough for another forward if it wants an upgrade. Rodrigues, who you mentioned, wouldn’t work. He has a $3 million cap hit — more than New York’s potential cap space — and the Rangers probably would get outbid trying to trade for him. He also plays more wing than center, though New York could use him in that position, too.
Drury could try signing one more player for close to the minimum before summer ends, but there aren’t many players left in free agency. Luke Kunin, Max Pacioretty and Nathan Bastian are among those available, but how much would one of them move the needle? The Rangers would be wise to save some cap space and allow it to accrue before the trade deadline. That could make a bigger addition possible cap-wise if the team is in playoff contention.
Should the Rangers sign some players to professional tryouts to create more competition in the preseason? Maybe they could get some bottom-pair defensemen to push Carson Soucy, Matthew Robertson and Urho Vaakanainen? — Philip T.
If some of the remaining free agents don’t find homes and are willing to come in on a PTO, I don’t see why not. I just wouldn’t set expectations high. Most of the time, the players left at that point don’t make huge impacts at the NHL level, though I covered the Avalanche when Jack Johnson went from a PTO signing to a Stanley Cup champion.
Where do you see Mika playing as this team approaches the trade deadline: 1RW or 2C? — Dan G.
The Rangers’ best-case scenario would be Pärssinen or someone else stepping up at 3C and Zibanejad playing effectively on J.T. Miller’s wing, but it’s too early to project if that’s feasible. If Zibanejad is on the wing, I have a hard time seeing any of the 3C options stepping up enough to make that line potent, but Sullivan might also have to sacrifice there to keep a strong top-six together. It could also be an area to address at the deadline, but that’s only if the Rangers are playoff contenders.
I’d love to get your take on the Kenny Albert-Dave Maloney MSG TV broadcast pairing. Do they have what it takes to be elite in this league? — Shaun M.
The Rangers are going from an all-time great in Sam Rosen to Kenny Albert, who is widely respected and is on TNT’s lead crew. Fans surely will miss Rosen, but sliding Albert over from radio to TV is quite a luxury in the play-by-play department. Maloney is extremely knowledgeable as an analyst, as was his retiring predecessor, Joe Micheletti, and he has chemistry with Albert from their time on radio. I like the pairing and see it being a seamless transition: not easy to pull off given how long Rosen was in the booth.
Do you think Scott Morrow will make the team out of training camp? — Nicholas R.
Carolina did not view Morrow as someone who was going to make a big impact on its roster in the short term, which is why general manager Eric Tulsky felt comfortable putting him in the K’Andre Miller trade. That doesn’t mean the 22-year-old Morrow can’t make an impact in a different organization, but he’ll need to continue to improve defensively to break camp. I imagine Sullivan will give him a long look, especially if the team tries Braden Schneider on his off side to give him a shot in the top four.
The Rangers would be wise to either have Morrow in the opening night lineup or send him to AHL Hartford. There’s no use in having him as the No. 7 defenseman watching from the press box. He needs to be playing games at this stage of his career, and he still is exempt from waivers.
Is there any credibility or merit to the rumored interest in Bowen Byram? — Torsten S.
The Rangers have never seemed like one of the major players in the Byram sweepstakes, and at this point, it’s hard to see a fit. Byram extended in Buffalo for two years at $6.25 million, so New York would have to shed significant cap space to make room for him. The Rangers would also have to give up win-now pieces for the Sabres to consider a deal. All accounts are that Buffalo is trying to contend this season.
Who do you predict will be the biggest target at the trade deadline if the Rangers are in playoff contention at that time? — Chris S.
Before I start, I’m going to add emphasis to what you said in your question, Chris. This answer only applies if the Rangers are in playoff contention. If they aren’t, the front office needs to take a different approach.
Should the Rangers be in the mix come March, they will have two 2026 first-round picks to use as trade chips. They also might have additional cap flexibility if they accrue space before the deadline.
It’s hard to know who will be available come the trade deadline since so many teams are trying to win, but looking at rosters of teams who might be out of the mix, here are a few potential fits, given the Rangers’ needs and types of players they tend to like.
• Alex Tuch, Buffalo: Tuch will be an UFA after next season unless he and Buffalo agree on an extension. He will cost a lot to acquire, but paying up could be worth it for New York if it believes it can extend the power forward.
• Bryan Rust or Rickard Rakell, Pittsburgh: Both have familiarity with Sullivan but will come with high acquisition costs if they’re still with the Penguins come the deadline. They are also both 32 or older, so they would not make the Rangers younger. That’s a concern with both having three years left on their deals.
• Jean Gabriel-Pageau, Islanders: He’d be a great 3C option, but the Islanders might not want to trade one of their popular, long-time players to a major rival.
• Mario Ferraro, San Jose: The Sharks are among the few teams that will almost certainly be terrible, and Ferraro is only a year from being an UFA. He could be an option at defense if New York needs an upgrade.
• Michael Bunting, Nashville: He’s a middle-six wing who showed he can move up and play with top-line talent when he was in Toronto.
• Mason Marchment, Seattle: Marchment is another physical forward who can chip in offense for a playoff team, as he showed in conference final runs with Dallas the past three seasons. His Kraken teammate Eeli Tolvanen could be an option for a team in need of a goal scorer.
Will Alexis Lafrenière be a late bloomer or a No. 1 dud? — Arthur M.
When we look back at Lafrenière’s career, the truth is we will probably view it somewhere between these two extremes. He does not seem like he’s going to be a superstar, which is what teams hope for when they have the No. 1 pick, but he is still only 23 and showed in 2023-24 that he can be a top-line-level player.
Lafrenière still has yet to play consistently on a top power play. His scoring numbers should benefit if that ever happens. In 2023-24 he had 28 goals and 57 points, 51 of which came at even strength. If he’d been on the top power play unit that year he likely would have been a 30-plus goal scorer with more than 60 points. If he can be that player consistently — far from a guarantee, as we saw this past season — then New York has a core piece, even if he’s not a star.
Another questioner (H2O S.) asked me to enlist the help of some colleagues to put together a projection for Lafrenière next season. Dom Luszczyszyn, our analytics guru, hasn’t finalized exact projections for next season, but his model predicts Lafrenière will score 55 to 60 points next season, depending on his power play usage. Luszczyszyn’s model still projects him to have a negative defensive rating. That’s obviously not an area of play in which Lafrenière has excelled.
“I struggled to be consistent in my game and didn’t really make a difference,” Lafrenière said after the season. “I’m obviously disappointed in my year. We can have a long summer, we can work on a lot of stuff and come back next year and have a big year.”
Those around Lafrenière talked about how hard he attacked summer training after a disappointing 2023 playoffs, and he proceeded to have a career-best year the next season. Perhaps his difficult 2024-25 will add motivation this offseason.
Which of these three players will make the Rangers opening night roster: Gabe Perreault, Brett Berard or Brennan Othmann? — Nicholas R.
Let’s look at the wing situation. If everyone is healthy, Artemi Panarin, Lafrenière, Cuylle and Taylor Raddysh will definitely be in the lineup. Let’s say Mika Zibanejad starts at wing and Matt Rempe and Adam Edström are in the opening night lineup on the fourth line. That would leave one wing spot open for Perreault, Berard, Othmann, Jonny Brodzinski or another candidate. Of those candidates, I’d consider Perreault the favorite to make the lineup out of camp, especially if Sullivan wants someone to play in the top six, which would give him flexibility to put Cuylle on the third line.
“I’m going to do everything this summer to get ready for camp and do everything I can to make the team, make an impact,” Perreault said.
If Sullivan wants Cuylle in the top six, Othmann or Berard might fit better on the third line. That could push Perreault down to AHL Hartford, where he’d get more minutes and regular power play time.
Could you see Edström getting a shot on the third line if Othmann doesn’t impress in camp? — Erik V.
Edström played exclusively in a fourth-line role this past season, and that’s fitting for who he is as a player. Forcing him into the top-nine group doesn’t make a ton of sense unless his offense pops in training camp.
(Top photo of Alexis Lafrenière: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)