As the New York Rangers embark on their 101st NHL campaign, hot off the heels of last year's landmark centennial celebration, there is one tradition that never changes before the puck drops, and that is circling the biggest matchups on the calendar. This late September a new season will officially begin, and the schedule is packed with enough action in which the Rangers have plenty of popcorn worthy games fans can look forward to.
October 1: Home Opening Night vs Tampa Bay
Kicking off the Madison Square Garden slate against a conference rival? Excellent, even if the NHL's 110th season starts a little earlier than usual. And that's not even all.. we're getting two extra regular season games to bring the total to 84 for the first time in 32 years! Not since the Rangers won their last Cup in 1993-94 has the NHL had an 84 game regular season. It's the first test for this continuously reworked Rangers team against a Tampa Bay squad that had to fill some holes on the defensive side of the puck. And make no mistake, this is still one of the Eastern Conference's most consistent playoff teams. They didn't fall too far even after losing key defensive pieces in Darren Raddysh and Nick Paul. And guess what? It'll also be a reunion for Rangers forward Oliver Bjorkstrand, playing against his now "old" team.
October 22: Visiting Toronto and Gavin McKenna
By the time the Rangers play against this year's number 1 overall draft pick, the superstar Gavin McKenna out of Penn State, it'll nearly be the end of the first month of the season. The only thing to focus on here is how is the team doing at that point and how many times has McKenna scored? And like Tampa Bay, Toronto also did some free agent shopping, including landing veteran goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky from the Florida Panthers. Yes, him. One of the greatest goaltenders in the modern game faces the Rangers yet again, this time on a team north of the border. And of course, any Rangers vs Leafs game is always a duel, especially for the old time fans who admire the Original 6 spirit it carries.
Jan 29: Visiting the Penguins, Sullivan's Old Squad
Since the Rangers and Pens are in the same division, Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan has already made his return to Pittsburgh since stepping behind the Blueshirts bench. But when you coach a team for an entire decade, it's much harder to let go, especially when you're now the head coach of a rival. In addition to the high emotions of this game, it'll also be an opponent the Rangers may have to fight with for for a playoff spot next April. Last season the Penguins were able to squeak their way in with some very fortunate wild card results that came down to the final day of the regular season.
Feb 18: In-State Rival Clash
This one may also carry heavy playoff implications if the cards fall right for the Rangers this season, and the Feb 18 duel against the Islanders kicks off a 4 game road trip across other potential Eastern Conference playoff hopefuls, from Philadelphia to Washington and of course, the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. Speaking of that Carolina game, that one might also be worth circling, although it's the last of four times the Rangers face off against the defending champs at the Lenovo Center. The whole four games series is notable since they'll be facing former Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller, who never got to call himself a Stanley Cup champion in New York but now can do so in Raleigh. That definitely hurts.
March 6-7: At Buffalo and Then Versus Vegas
This pair of games right after the trade deadline for the 2026-27 season is against opponents the Rangers did business with, the latter of which was arguably one of the biggest free agency splashes in the entire 2025-26 offseason. New York somehow managed to wrangle Pavel Dorofeyev, a 37-goal scorer from Vegas and has since signed him to a seven year contract worth $11 million per season. The Sabres are the other party here, as the Rangers pursued one of their top free agents in Alex Tuch, who coincidentally also played for Vegas before ultimately losing the bid to the Washington Capitals. Nevertheless, this pair of games is gonna be interesting no matter if any or no deals are made before the spring trade deadline. Let's just hope President and GM Chris Drury didn't pass on another bonafide opportunity like he did trying to get Tuch.
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