The National Hockey League has entered a serious slowdown, with only a handful more things to take care of before the long summer truly begins. With the free agency period at a halt and the 2026 NHL draft over and done, the New York Rangers had a busy couple of weeks.
Specifically, General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Chris Drury has had a busy couple of weeks. As it stands right now, some believe that the Rangers did a great job thus far.
The Athletic went ahead and released grades for all 32 teams after the dust had settled from the past week and change. Peter Baugh, the go-to writer for all things Blueshirts over there, completely nailed his rating for the Rangers.
Let's talk about it.
Improvements everywhere
Up and down the roster, improvements were made all over. The defensive core got a serious boost with Marcus Pettersson coming over from Vancouver, as well as the drafting of Alberts Smits with the fifth-overall pick.
The forward group took a hit with Vincent Trocheck going to Utah, but the return was solid, and it now gives some room for up-and-coming centers to eat up some minutes. Plus, let us not glaze over the fact that Pavel Dorofeyev and Oliver Bjorkstrand are going to shine bright on Broadway in 2026-27.
Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan has to be pleased with how this offseason has gone thus far, as his team is going to look significantly better next go-around.
Better, but can it be sustainable
The Athletic graded the Rangers at a B, and it is perfectly fair. Trading for Dorofeyev should have been an automatic A or A- at least, but it took a lot to get him, and he just signed a very large contract at $11 million AAV. That is a substantial investment in a guy who has only emerged to superstardom in the last two seasons for Vegas.
The same goes for Pettersson, as he has been stuck on a very bad Vancouver team for the last two years. Reuniting with Sullivan is going to be a nice touch, as the blue line might be the biggest thing to fix next season.
Cards are starting to shape itself into the formation of a house, but one small blow can knock this whole thing out. Tread carefully.
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