Questions Rangers still need to answer ahead of 2025-26 season

For the New York Rangers, a couple of key questions have been answered over the past few days.

Fans learned whether Will Cuylle would remain a Blueshirt and whether or not it was true that K'Andre Miller was getting traded off. And while it's great Rangers fans have these answers, there's still a lot of questions that remaining unanswered going into the 2025-26 season.

Here's a look at my top four.

4. Will Gabe Perreault play more?

Gabe Perreault is one of the top rookies in the league at 20-years-old. New York Rangers President and General Manager Chris Drury announced on March 31 that the Rangers had officially agreed to terms with forward Perreault on a three-year, entry-level contract.

Perreault was originally selected by the Blueshirts in the first round, 23rd overall, of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. Flashing back to the present — rookies sacrificing the first year of their entry-level contract is always a risky maneuver, but the Rangers forged right ahead.

In his five games Perreault didn't get on the scoresheet but he registered five shots on net and averaged over 14 minutes of ice time. There were moments from him that showed why he was a top prospect. These include but are not limited to some textbook NHL passes demonstrating Perreault's hockey IQ.

One of the final nails in then-head coach Peter Laviolette's coffin before getting canned was his decision to healthy scratch Perreault on a number of occasions.

And for what? You burn a year of his ELC, toss him into a lineup hanging by a thread, and then bench him? Whatever the reasoning behind those decisions was, it was not good enough.

While we'll never see good answers for why he didn't play as much as he should have in 2024-25, hopefully we'll see him play more next season.

3. What went wrong on the power play in 2024-25?

In 2023-24, the Rangers were third in the NHL when on the power play at 26.4% This season, they finished the season ranked 28th in the league out of 30 teams (17.6%).

Additionally, the fact that they drew the eighth-fewest power-play opportunities (210) is a testament to how little the Rangers had both possession and control of the puck during five-on-five play.

So, while I guess we know what wrong in the power play, the better question is what are the Blueshirts going to do to fix it ahead of the looming season?

2. Will we see an improvement from Mika Zibanejad?

Mika's wife, Irma Zibanejad, recently said that the pair now own new property in New York and recently hosted first-year Rangers' Head Coach Mike Sullivan.

“We just had Mika’s new coach [Mike Sullivan] here at our home; he flew over from New York recently,” she said, according to Mollie Walker of the New York Post. “We also just got our new home in New York. I’m always shocked about how newspapers just spread things without considering the source.” 

Much to the discontent of the organization and fans alike, Zibanejad did not rebound in 2024-25, but rather continued his regression. The 32-year-old was only able to tally 62 points, which was a ten point drop. He also struggled on the power play, scoring just 19 points after putting up 31 the year before.

At this point — the question of why he struggled so much doesn't matter as much as whether or not he will improve.

1. Why were so many goals allowed?

In 2024-25, the Blueshirts allowed five goals or more in just over 28 percent of their 82-game season. Tied for the fifth-most shots against per game (29.9), the Rangers also finished the season with the fifth-highest expected-goals-against per 60 (2.75).

For even the most casual hockey fan, it's obvious that the team who allows the least amount of goals in a matchup. For Sullivan, something as simple as making sure the Rangers don't get scored on is a top priority.