The New York Rangers missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025. Their season went much worse than that, however. New York was a fractured team throughout the season. Team legends noticed it, management noticed, and the players did as well. As a result, the team never had a chance despite a fantastic start to the season.
The Rangers continued overhauling their organization this summer. Mike Sullivan was introduced as the new head coach after Peter Laviolette was fired. Chris Kreider was traded to the Anaheim Ducks before the NHL Draft. When NHL Free Agency began, the Rangers were busy adding and subtracting from the roster.
The Rangers began the day by trading K'Andre Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes. He signed an eight-year contract with them as part of the deal. Following this move, New York signed Vladislav Gavrikov to a seven-year contract. He should pair with Adam Fox on the first pairing for the next few seasons, at least.
New York has a little more than a month left to prepare for the upcoming season. The Rangers begin play on October 7th when they take on Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Before the puck drops, let's take a look at two bold predictions for the Blueshirts' 100th season.
Rangers finally pull trigger on Alexis Lafreniere trade
The Rangers made Alexis Lafreniere the first overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. At the time, he was seen as a potentially generational talent. And many expected him to become a star in this league for a long time. Unfortunately, this has not panned out as hoped.
The 23-year-old winger is a fine player, to be fair. At 23 years old, he still has a lot of time left to develop, as well. But he was unable to build on a 57-point season in 2023-24. He signed a seven-year contract last season, so New York showed some commitment to him.
However, one thing we've learned about general manager Chris Drury is that he is ruthless. He will find any way to get a player off his team if he feels they need to go. Barclay Goodrow was waived despite having a no-trade clause, for example. And Jacob Trouba was threatened with the same action before his trade to the Ducks.
This season, Lafreniere will be next. The Rangers will trade the 23-year-old in a “hockey trade” to try and improve their roster for a playoff push. He gets a fresh start, and New York moves on after six seasons, including 2025-26.
New York makes the playoffs, but barely
The Rangers have a talented team already constructed. J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad, Adam Fox, and Igor Shesterkin are high quality players when they are on their games. The issue last season is that some of these players weren't at their best for whatever reason.
Part of this was due to the overall drama enveloping the club last season. Rangers management made trade rumors public involving some players. Laviolette seemed checked out by the end of the season. And the general vibe was thrown off.
Sullivan is a fantastic hire for this franchise. He should be able to get this team back in the postseason in 2025-26. However, Rome wasn't built in a day, and broken hockey teams aren't fixed in one offseason. They will have to scratch and claw for their spots in the postseason in 2026.
