Today’s Rangers practice offers big clue to opening night lineup

The New York Rangers have three preseason games remaining, but it appears that head coach Mike Sullivan is close to locking in the group he wants to start the 2025-26 NHL regular season. The Blueshirts took the ice for practice, and the pairings put together could be a preview of how the team will look on opening night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Rangers lines suggest that only a few battles remain

Let's get the easy stuff out of the way. The Rangers' top line to end last season of Will Cuylle, J.T. Miller, and Mika Zibanejad is slotted in as the top line, and Vladislav Gavrikov is paired with Adam Fox. That's a pair of combinations that feel like locks.

Behind them you have the longstanding line of Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, and Alexis Lafrenière, a trio that has tons of experience and established results together. Their expected defense partners include Carson Soucy and Will Borgen, a duo that spent time together in Seattle and reunited in New York last season.

After that, based on the combinations, it appears that only a few battles are truly still ongoing. It would appear that Brett Berard remains in the mix for a third or fourth line wing spot, Noah Laba is in the mix for a bottom-six center spot, and Scott Morrow is competing for a spot on defense. Juuso Parssinen and Urho Vaakanainen are currently slotted above each player respectively, but there's no guarantee they have earned a job yet.

On the outside looking in?

Notably absent from this group of players were Brennan Othmann and Gabe Perreault, and that suggest that both will make up two thirds of the 2025-26 Hartford Wolf Pack's top line on opening night. Conor Sheary is currently penciled in on the third line, and that would suggest he will be signed to a contract to play a bottom-six role. Also in the mix, apparently, is journeyman Jonny Brodzinski.

Of the other names outside the "starting lineup" there's a chance that one of Sam Carrick and Matt Rempe will compete to be the extra forward, whereas Adam Edstrom could also be Hartford bound along with Matthew Robertson who is being used on the fourth D pair in practice.

More clarity should come soon

I would expect another roster cut to come soon, either before or after the team's fourth preseason game on Monday. You would expect that Sullivan and company want to have as close to a final roster put together for the final two preseason games, because you want to get off to as fast a start as possible once the regular season opens.