The 2024-25 NHL season was one of the most disappointing in New York Rangers history, going from defending Presidents' Trophy winners to missing the postseason outright. New York's downfall started in mid-November, when a 4–15–0 stretch buried the Blueshirts for the rest of the season.
A year later, the Rangers find themselves in a similar situation after a 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night. They sit in last place in the Metropolitan Division with 22 points, and though the Rangers are not too far behind the leader (the New Jersey Devils at 28), the message remains the same: New York's stretch to end 2025 can't be the same as it was last season.
Rangers know all too well how quickly things can spiral
Going into year one of the Mike Sullivan regime, last season's debacle could be forgotten to an extent. It's a brand new team, with a lot of new players and a new staff. But, the ghosts of November 2024 and December 2024 should haunt the Rangers core. Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad, Alexis Lafrenière and more all dipped in play, leading to a domino effect which saw Chris Drury send a memo to the other NHL teams and the Rangers trading their captain, Jacob Trouba, as roster reconstruction began. By the offseason, Peter Laviolette was fired, Chris Kreider was traded and New York was going in a different direction.
Through a month of the 2025-26 NHL season, the Rangers have showed that this is not the same team and definitely not the same system. New York is playing better five-on-five hockey, have gotten spectacular goaltending performances from both Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick (the one thing that remains unchanged) and have continued to improve as the season goes on. But, that same core remains in tact.
It's early, but 2024-25 showed that every point matters when it comes to April. New York ended up missing the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs by six points; if the Blueshirts even flipped a few of the games in November and December, last season could have had a different script. But it didn't.
It's up to the Rangers core that has experienced the highs and lows, from making two Eastern Conference Finals to missing the postseason and trading away key leaders that Blueshirts fans became accustomed to.
Again, it's a different season, and the thoughts in the locker room should not be on what happened a year ago. But, for the Rangers and their fans, the ghosts of that disappointing season will haunt them as they enter this critical stretch.
From day one of the postseason, the message of this Rangers team was "No B.S." Last season was filled with outside distractions, noise and fear that bad performances can see the locker room even more broken. That's why New York's losses felt much more strong than the wins and by mid-April.
It's time for these Rangers - led by a new head coach and a newly named captain but has mainly the same core leading the push - to show they are different. Through a month, the Blueshirts showed they can be.
Now, they must prove they are.