The New York Rangers fell apart during the 2024-25 season and did not even make the playoffs. Head coach Peter Laviolette was fired because the team seemed to coast much of the year and they rarely played with the kind of effort that would have been needed to take them on a significant run in the postseason.
New head coach Mike Sullivan has a talented roster to work with and his job is finding a way to motivate his players to play at an elite level all season. There is no reason that the Rangers can't finish in the top three of the Metropolitan Division and return to the playoffs in the 2025-26 season.
The Rangers have installed J.T. Miller as their new captain, and they didn't give him that label because they expect him to be their highest scorer. They gave Miller the team's captaincy because he is a hard worker who will put his body on the line every night to help the Rangers win.
The 32-year-old Miller was traded by the Vancouver Canucks to the Rangers last year, and he scored 22 goals and added 48 assists while playing in 72 games for both teams.
Miller had scored 32 goals or more for three consecutive seasons with the Canucks, and there's no reason he can't reach that level again with the Rangers.
The Rangers look at Miller as a dependable star who is going to come through for them on a consistent basis. He is likely to be the center on the No. 2 line. The Rangers would like to see left wing Alexis Lafreniere develop an excellent partnership with Miller and become a star on his own.
Lafreniere holds one of the keys to the Rangers' season
Lafreniere was the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and the expectation was that he would become a star for them.
That may have been a bit too much to ask of any player, but they want him to become dynamic in his production.
Lafreniere has improved in his five years with the Rangers, but he took a step backwards last year. He scored 28 goals and 29 assists in the 2023-24 season but those numbers slipped to 17 goals and 28 assists last year.
Lafreniere has played both left and right wing with the Rangers, and he says he is comfortable at both positions.
“We’ve been talking about this for so long, haven’t we?” Lafrenière told Larry Brooks of the New York Post. “I’m honestly comfortable on both sides. After two years on the right, you get used to it, getting reps. It doesn’t make a big difference to me. Wherever they need me, I’ll be ready.
“I want to have a big year.”
The Rangers have a chance to make an impact with their two top lines this season. Center Vincent Trocheck will have Artemi Panarin and Taylor Raddysh as his wingers on the team's first line and Miller will serve as the center for Lafreniere and Mika Zibanejad on the No. 2 line.
If Lafreniere can approach 30 goals, the Rangers may have two explosive lines that can help them get near the top of the Metropolitan Division.
Rangers hoping that Jusso Parssinen can step up
The first two lines will be expected to carry much of the offensive load for the Rangers this season.
However, they are going to need a third line that can carry its weight. Not only do they need the third line to do an excellent job defensively, but that line needs to chip in with timely offensive production.
The key to that may be Parssinen, the 24-year-old Finnish center. He was acquired by the Rangers from the Colorado Avalanche for Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey.
During his 11 games with the Rangers at the end of the season, he scored 2 goals and added 3 assists.
There is no doubt that the team is counting on him to become an impact player this season.
The Rangers would love to see Lafreniere and Parssinen set the tone for excellent seasons with their performance in training camp.
