The New York Rangers are two years removed from being just two wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final, before getting eliminated by the eventual champions, the Florida Panthers. Next season, the Rangers had a season of dysfunction and a lost locker room, where they missed out on the playoffs. The 2025-26 season was unbelievably worse, as they finished in last place in the Eastern Conference, despite bringing in Mike Sullivan as head coach.
This offseason, the Rangers and general manager Chris Drury opted to both replenish their prospect pipeline while also bringing in win-now players. That was evident after they pulled off a sign-and-trade with the Vegas Golden Knights for winger Pavel Dorofeyev, and brought in a new second defensive pairing with Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi. The hope is that these players can pay pivotal roles in the Rangers making it back to the playoffs.
Their path becomes much more easier considering they are in the Metropolitan Division.
Rangers can thank their lucky stars they are in the Metropolitan Division
The Metropolitan Division is pretty wild open if you are not the Carolina Hurricanes. That bodes well for the Rangers.
The Hurricanes are going to be the team to beat in the division, considering they are the Stanley Cup champions and their roster from last season is pretty much the same as this upcoming campaign. Even with questions at goaltender, the Hurricanes should be considered locks to lnot just make the playoffs, but also win the division title for the fourth time in the past five seasons.
Besides the Hurricanes, the final two spots are pretty much up for grabs.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers both exceeded expectations by securing second and third place in the division to make it into the playoffs. The thing is, the Penguins are only getting older with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson, and Kris Letang. Can they hold up strong for a full season? As for the Flyers, their additions of Trevor Zegras and Dan Vladar paid off. Can they both replicate their success in their second seasons? Also, can their top prospects take a leap forward in the pros, especially after the lack of a huge addition this offseason?
Perhaps the biggest offseason winners were the Washington Capitals. With this potentially being Alex Ovechkin's last hurrah, the Capitals added to their forward group with the likes of Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou, and Boone Jenner. It's as loaded of a forward group as you could get in the NHL. But as we all know, winning the offseason doesn't result in winning the Stanley Cup.
The New Jersey Devils are loaded at forward following the additions of Luke Evangelista and Anthony Mantha this offseason. But, their goaltending is a major question mark. The New York Islanders, meanwhile, are going to be banking on standout seasons from defenseman Matthew Schaefer and goalie Ilya Sorokin, while hoping Brayden Schenn could thrive in his first full season in New York. Then there are the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are hoping they can win games before the likes of Zach Werenski and Kirill Marchenko demand off of the team, for real this time.
So, the Rangers' path to the playoffs is not the most difficult. If they remain healthy, their offseason additions pan out, have another great season from goalie Igor Shesterkin, they could get back into playoff form. They should be thankful they're not in the Atlantic Division.
Rangers should be ecstatic to not be in the Atlantic Division
While the Metropolitan Division outlook can be viewed as "the Hurricanes, then everyone else," the Atlantic Division is going to be a brutal gauntlet match throughout the entire season.
Last season, the Atlantic Division had five representatives in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Buffalo Sabres made it to the playoffs for the first time in 14 seasons, and won the Atlantic Division championship. They beat the Boston Bruins in the opening round before getting eliminated in the second round in seven games by the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, but lost in five games to the Hurricanes. The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Canadiens in the first round, despite having the Hart Trophy winner in Nikita Kucherov and Vezina Trophy winner in Andrei Vasilevskiy. Then, there are the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators, who made it as Wild Card teams, only to get eliminated in the first round.
This offseason, the Atlantic got much tougher. The Panthers, looking to contend for the Stanley Cup yet again, added forward Brady Tkachuk and goalie Jacob Markstrom. The Senators, meanwhile, brought in William Eklund from the San Jose Sharks to replace Tkachuk. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the draft lottery to draft top prospect Gavin McKenna with the first overall pick, while also adding a defenseman that can contribute on offense in Darren Raddysh. The Sabres are in the running for goalie Connor Hellebuyck, which should only make them better.
As for the Detroit Red Wings, they may very well be in last place in the division, considering the uncertainty surrounding Dylan Larkin and his trade request, and the lack of a general manager.
Still, if you're looking at the Rangers' path, it's much easier in the Metropolitan Division. The Atlantic is filled with a variety of legitimate Stanley Cup contenders, with one of the eight teams looking like lottery teams. It's that tough.
On paper, this Rangers team should be much better than last year's roster that finished dead-last in the East. Of course, they'll need to prove it on the ice. If they can play good all-around hockey, they should have solid odds of making it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2024.
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