Tye Kartye was a quiet success story for the New York Rangers after being claimed off waivers from Seattle late last season, but anyone claiming they saw this 2026-27 start coming is lying.
While you always want to avoid putting the cart before the horse and declaring anyone an established top-six fixture after a single month of hockey, Kartye’s entire tenure with the Rangers has provided the kind of spark the front office desperately needed. With the Rangers now wrapped up with their October schedule, it is the perfect time to step back and appreciate what has been an unbelievable opening stretch.
Kartye ended the month with four goals, six assists, and 10 points in 14 games while logging 15:28 of ice time a night. He brings a relentless, aggressive motor on every single shift. Just when skeptics expect his puck luck to dry up, he finds a way to leave his fingerprints on the scoresheet.
Nice shot, Karts 🎯 pic.twitter.com/kpyXPxRtZA
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 27, 2026
From Seattle depth forward to Broadway spark plug
Kartye appeared in 24 games for New York down the stretch last season, posting five goals and nine assists for 14 points in 14:04 per contest. The fact that he has nearly matched that entire offensive output in 10 fewer games this fall speaks volumes about his work ethic and willingness to go to the dirty areas of the ice.
Across his full 38-game sample in a Rangers sweater, Kartye has tallied 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists). That equates to a 0.63 points per game pace.
That is night and day compared to his tenure in the Pacific Northwest, where Kartye registered just 41 points (20 goals, 21 assists) across 180 games for a 0.23 points per game average. Nobody is expecting him to shoot the lights out all year, nor should the Rangers expect him to carry an offense. But New York has uncovered a legitimate, high-motor NHL contributor for the foreseeable future. When you consider he cost zero draft picks and zero trade capital, every single contribution he provides is house money.
It is still wild to look at the team leaderboard and see Kartye tied for fourth with J.T. Miller on the roster in scoring through late October. The only Rangers with more points are Mika Zibanejad (11 points), Alexis Lafrenière (16 points), and Adam Fox (17 points).
Underlying metrics show positive early signs
The most encouraging takeaway from Kartye’s October is that his underlying metrics have held their own, even when asked to punch above his typical weight class.
Through 14 games, Kartye has posted a 49.97 GF%, a 51.84 CF%, and a 51.69 xGF% per Evolving-Hockey. If Kartye were merely getting fortunate bounces on sheltered fourth-line shifts, those numbers would crater when asked to skate against top opposing shutdown pairs. Instead, he has held the line and kept the ice tilted in the right direction.
The coaching staff is still experimenting with where his skillset fits best. Mike Sullivan previously tested Pavel Dorofeyev on Kartye and Miller’s line. That trio dominated possession, posting a 61.63 CF% and 60.03 xGF%, but suffered from Dorofeyev’s finishing drought, resulting in a 44.98 GF%.
Early chemistry with Miller and Oliver Bjorkstrand
Sullivan’s latest chemistry experiment has Oliver Bjorkstrand on that wing, and the early returns are intriguing.
While the sample size sits at just 18 minutes of ice time together, the Kartye-Miller-Bjorkstrand unit has posted a 100 GF%, a 66.4 CF%, and an 84.02 xGF%. Sullivan will likely keep that group together when the Rangers take the ice on Sunday at Madison Square Garden against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.
Kartye was one of the Rangers' brightest surprises in October. The challenge now is seeing how much of that energy and production he can carry into November. Whether he settles into a middle-six role or keeps riding this wave, New York found a legitimate diamond in the rough on the waiver wire, and his presence has made this lineup far more versatile.
Add us as a preferred source on Google