Among the NHL teams in dire straits in the early goings of the 2025-26 season are the New York Rangers. Not only did they miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2024-25, but they are on pace right now to easily miss once again based on their record through the first 10 games.
They've won only three of 10 games, with the most recent setback coming on Sunday evening against the Calgary Flames, who hadn't won since Oct. 8. The Rangers' loss to the Flames put them at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division.
The frustration on the part of Rangers team captain J.T. Miller was evident in his postgame comments, saying that while they felt they were adequately prepared to play, their mistakes (and some bad luck) were what did them in, per The Athletic.
“You can't be okay with coming out flat. We're in no position to come out flat,” Miller said via Vince Z. Mercogliano on X. “We had the right mindset. We're ready to go. We got outplayed again in the first period, and it kind of set the tone. I thought we had a good second period. A couple mistakes hurt us, but other than that, we had a good second period, a good third. We're obviously not getting a ton of bounces offensively, which is more of a reason – there's no excuses to come out flat. It just sucks.”
“This is not fun right now, and we need to correct the starts,” Miller continued. “It's becoming a trend, so we need to fix this now. It's a hard road trip, so we’ve got to be ready to go to start the game.”
The Rangers have to immediately course correct before things spin too far out of control. They'll have their next opportunity to earn two badly needed points in the standings when they face the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Tuesday. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. ET.
The Rangers named J.T. Miller their team captain before the season
This was not the first time Miller spoke about the team's struggles, either.
Miller is playing in his second tenure with the Rangers, and Tuesday evening will mark his first appearance back in Vancouver since the trade that sent him back to New York in January 2025.
In return for Miller, the Rangers sent Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and a 2025 first-round pick back to the Canucks.
The Rangers selected Miller in the first round (15th overall) in the 2011 NHL Draft, and he's also played for the Tampa Bay Lightning along with the Canucks. Prior to this season, the Rangers named Miller the 29th team captain in franchise history, officially succeeding Jacob Trouba, who was also traded last season.
