The New York Rangers fanbase waited months to see what general manager Chris Drury had in store for the team's "retool." After finishing in last place in the Eastern Conference and with a weak free agency class, fans wondered how he could improve the roster. Well the answer to that question was mostly through trades.
This offseason, the Rangers brought in a scoring winger in Pavel Dorofeyev and shored up their blue line with defensemen Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson all via trade. They did hit in free agency on a middle six scoring forward in the form of Oliver Bjorkstrand. Of course, their main departure was Vincent Trocheck, who they traded to the Utah Mammoth in exchange for Durzi, forward prospect Cole Beaudoin, and a 2027 third-round pick. With the offseason in a bit of a standstill, where do the Rangers stand in terms of most improved? As it turns out, pretty high.
The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn unveiled his rankings for the most improved teams of the NHL offseason. Luszczyszyn ranked the Rangers as the second-most improved team of the offseason, saying that this is a team that "did enough to get back in the playoff mix next season."
The Athletic ranks Rangers as second-most improved team of NHL offseason
"Is everyone sleeping on the Rangers’ offseason," asked Luszczyszyn. "Losing Vincent Trocheck isn’t ideal if the goal is competing for a playoff spot, but the addition of Pavel Dorofeyev more than makes up for it. He’s an upgrade in the top six and could be a major asset to the team’s power play. Adding Oliver Bjorkstrand should solidify the middle six, too.
"The real reason to be optimistic about the Rangers next season, though, is a revamped blue line. This is a team that desperately needed a legit second pair and they got just that with the additions of Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson."
You can't argue with this if you are a Rangers fan. For those curious, Luszczyszyn ranked the Rangers just one point in net rating behind the Nashville Predators for the No. 1 spot on his rankings.
It's hard to say the Rangers don't boast an improved roster. The team desperately needed a legitimate scoring option this offseason and it looked to be difficult considering the likes of Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, and Kirill Kaprizov all signed contract extensions with their respective teams before the start of this past season. But Dorofeyev was available, since the Vegas Golden Knights were in the midst of a cap crunch and there was no room to fit in a long-term contract extension. So, the Rangers sent over the No. 26 overall pick, the No. 92 overall pick, and a conditional 2028 first-round pick to the Golden Knights for Dorofeyev, and signed the winger to a seven-year, $77 million contract. Now, he'll likely slot into the top line alongside Mika Zibanejad and Gabe Perreault.
The defense needed an overhaul this offseason, and Drury made sure of that. Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov are locked in as the top pair. Behind them, there were a ton of question marks. Now, they have Durzi and Pettersson locked in as the second pairing defensemen. That then allows Braden Schneider, who struggled at points this past season in a large role, to slot in on the third pair. As for who could pair with him, don't rule out first-round pick Alberts Smits, who was deemed as the most pro-ready prospect in this draft class, and could very well earn a roster spot through training camp. But looking at the overall depth chart, the defense looks so much more improved than last year's group.
As for goaltending, they won't have to worry too much with Igor Shesterkin in net, barring injury. They did bring in a new veteran goalie in Joonas Korpisalo, who may be one of Drury's weaker moves of the offseason. But they also have Dylan Garand, who shined when he was called up late last season.
The Rangers could stand to add another forward this offseason, but overall, the roster looks better than last season's. They will have to bank on their younger players taking that next step (i.e. Perreault, Noah Laba, and Adam Sykora) and all of their offseason additions. But given the improvement across the Eastern Conference, we'll see if Drury did enough to bring the team back into playoff contention.
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