Entering Game 39 of the season against the Washington Capitals just before the Christmas break, the question becomes: what is the current state of this New York Rangers team as it approaches the halfway mark of the NHL regular season?
To borrow Dennis Green’s famous line after the Arizona Cardinals lost to the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football in 2006: “They are who we thought they were.” But in this case, Blueshirts fans have no intention of “letting them off the hook.”
The bad news? As I write this, the New York Rangers sit 14th in the Eastern Conference and are currently on the outside looking in at a wild card spot in an extremely crowded playoff race.
The good news? The Eastern Conference is a muddled mix of decent-to-pretty-good teams that haven’t separated themselves from one another. Even though the Rangers are technically only one point out of a playoff spot behind their cross-river rivals, the New Jersey Devils, they’re also only seven points behind the conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes.
Even the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers — who the Rangers will face on January 2nd in the 2026 Winter Classic — are currently outside a playoff position.
No one in the East is grabbing the bull by the horns
Before the season, we knew this team would be a mixed bag of veterans, young up‑and‑comers, and a run‑of‑the‑mill defense, supported by fantastic goaltending and a new coach eager to put his stamp on the organization. Expectations were not high.
So, any fan claiming to be disappointed or underwhelmed is essentially lying to themselves. There were no Stanley Cup expectations — barely even playoff expectations — for this group.
With injuries to Vincent Trocheck to start the season, Adam Fox last month, and now captain J.T. Miller sidelined for an extended period, you could argue the Rangers are actually performing better than they should be. But try telling that to a passionate fan. They don’t want to hear it — and honestly, who can blame them? We pay a ton of money for tickets, concessions, cable packages that may or may not air MSG games, and of course, overpriced Ranger’s merch.
Sorry, guys — I don’t care about KITH, and you’re not getting me to spend $300-plus on a jersey we all know costs pennies to make. I could write an entire article on how greed is destroying the NHL brand, but I digress.
What are the real expectations for this Rangers team as currently constructed?
The truth is, what we’re seeing is exactly what we’re getting — until it changes again… and then again the following week. Enjoy the ride, because the narrative around this team shifts faster than Mike Sullivan loses his temper at NHL referees who still can’t define goalie interference.
At times, the Rangers look like they can hang with the big boys. Then they turn around and lose to NHL bottom‑feeders. Expectations will remain in limbo until we see where the Rangers stand heading into the March 6th trade deadline — a moment that will almost certainly reshape the team’s trajectory.
And we all know what dark cloud is hanging over their heads
It always comes back to the Breadman. Artemi Panarin is a pending unrestricted free agent at season’s end. He is the litmus test for this team. If the Rangers struggle heading into the deadline, rumors will swirl about Panarin potentially waiving his no‑move clause to join a contender, with the Rangers receiving a treasure trove of assets in return.
This is the main storyline of the season — we just haven’t fully reached it yet. And we all know this Rangers team: they are emotional, reactive, and deeply influenced by relationships and the business side of the NHL.
They’re playing like they’re waiting for another shoe to drop. The reality is, they are in complete control of whether Artemi Panarin wants to stay or go — and whether he would even consider waiving his NMC.
This team has the talent and resiliency to elevate to another level. The question is whether they have the mental toughness to block out the noise and play the game their coach wants them to play. As stated earlier, the Rangers control their own narrative — and Chris Drury controls how he manages the talent at his disposal. The Eastern Conference remains wide open with no clear favorite.
So why not the Rangers? Why can’t they be one of those teams from NHL history that rallies through regular‑season adversity and makes a deep playoff run? Sports fans have seen this story before: teams rallying around a singular player — like Artemi Panarin — and thriving for the sake of their friendships and their room.
All the Rangers need to do is play well enough to keep the Breadman in their bakery… and not send him to another kitchen to rise higher.