The New York Rangers were a train wreck last season, and it has changed the entire outlook on this team. Going into the 2025-26 season, what was supposed to be another year looking forward to being a playoff team with a legitimate chance to win the Stanley Cup, now looks like a make-or-break season with a rebuild on the horizon.
One of the main storylines for next season will be whether this team can enter its redemption arc and pull itself out of the gutter. Can the Rangers have their revenge from a devastatingly awful 2024-25 campaign?
Redemption arc incoming
You can make a case that every single Rangers player from last season has a chip on their shoulder. This team was like a reality TV show that went off the rails at multiple points, often stemming from the front office's comments to the media and the loss of leadership in the locker room. You have to hope that the drama did not have any lingering effects on this upcoming year.
But that chip on their shoulder can be used as motivation. The consensus should be that next season will be a complete 180 in the right direction. The Metropolitan Division might have become the toughest in all of hockey, with Carolina being the Presidents' Trophy favorites, Washington ready to compete again, and the New Jersey Devils being as dangerous as ever. But the Rangers also went out and got some shiny new pieces to help.
They brought in a solid first-pair defenseman in Vladislav Gavrikov, as well as the prospect that Scott Morrow could be the real deal, and a new head coach in Mike Sullivan. It is not like the Rangers did not do anything to try and right the ship this offseason, and on paper, they look like a better team already.
Can they really be any better than last season?
They absolutely can. Some of the other major storylines for this upcoming season will be a flurry of contracts reaching its end, and the players attached to them will be playing their hearts out to either get a bigger deal or to remain with this organization.
Artemi Panarin is the highlight here, as his seven-year, $81.5 million deal is running out at the end of the 2025-26 season. Can he get back over the 100-point hump and maybe put himself into the Hart Trophy conversation?
Another Rangers star who will be playing for his livelihood is Mika Zibanejad. Despite not being in a contract year, he is potentially on the trade block. His intentions with this team's future are uncertain, and the Rangers front office will have a large microscope on him this season. If he continues to slide, expect him to be on his way out.
The Rangers as a whole can be a lot better than they were in 2024-25. A trip back to the playoffs is the key here, and however far they go will be the benchmark for their future. It is not necessarily do-or-die time yet, but they are rapidly reaching that place.