New York Rangers 2025-26 Edition: No B.S.

That's right. "No B.S.".

That's been the training camp mantra of the same New York Rangers organization inundated with bullshit throughout all last season, whether it was on the ice or off it. Hell even their "No Quit In NY" slogan turned out to be bullshit in the eyes of many Blueshirts fans who watched their team unable to salvage a final wild card slot virtually being handed to them thanks to what sure looked like minimal effort and an abundance of apathy. Under the new leadership of head coach Mike Sullivan and newly-named captain JT Miller, we're about to see if this Rangers squad won't just talk about it but BE about it while celebrating their 100th season.

There's nothing the Blueshirts love more than playing under a first-year coach. They battled for the Cup in Vigneault's '13-14 debut & were two games short of doing the same when Gallant and Laviolette each kicked off their brief coaching tenures. Note that Gallant in particular did so after the Rangers missed the playoffs entirely the previous (shortened) season. In comes the decorated Sullivan to follow suit fresh off the heels of what was easily the most disappointing result based on expectations for all 32 teams. It's alarming that this locker room needs a new voice annually, but when the voice belongs to a two-time Cup winner & head coach for the US Olympic squad there's no reason to believe Sully won't have immediate success.

A full season with JT Miller on the ice should help fend off any presumptions that this group has no fight in them. He WILL drag this team into every fight. There's no doubt Miller is fueled by donning the C for the team that made him a first-round selection 14 years ago. No doubt he's chomping at the bit to establish a legacy as he enters the last leg of his NHL career. No doubt he's motivated as hell to come out guns blazing and leave no uncertainty to his inclusion on Team USA come February. Skating between a young banger in Will Cuylle and a resurgent Mika Zibanejad, who returned to point-per-game form once Miller was acquired, JT is primed to return to the dominant form hockey fans saw in Vancouver when he piled up 103 points just two seasons ago.

All that being said, Millsy is no lock to lead this team in scoring. Artemi Panarin is still here and not only will he be looking to rekindle 2022-23 success with linemates Trocheck and Lafreniere in pursuit of the postseason, it's also a contract year for The Breadman. One last crack at a significant payday and, based on reports he turned down a team-friendly offer this summer, that's exactly what he's looking for. The only way the soon-to-be-34 year-old Panarin makes that happen - whether it's with the Blueshirts or elsewhere - is to prove he's still capable of being an alpha. Granted, 89 points in 80 games last season was still a hell of a year especially considering the turmoil. If he can return to 100-point form though before a UFA summer where the cap takes another leap & names like McDavid and Kaprizov have already been taken off the board, Panarin may end up the premier free agent by a longshot.

I went into detail on Vladislav Gavrikov's potential impact when he first inked his Rangers contract, but since I'm on a roll hyping up their best players I gotta mention it again. Paired up alongside Adam Fox is going to make a lot of the hockey world eat their slanderous words against the former Norris winner. While it was obvious Fox wasn't at his best last year, like pretty much every other one of his teammates, he was also left on an island. But behind every Norris-caliber blueliner across the league is usually an underappreciated defensive stalwart whose simplicity & reliability allows their superstar partner the freedom to play to their elite potential without hesitation. Gavrikov epitomizes that type of player & Fox will take full advantage. This kid is still only 27. Smack dab in the prime of his career and, like Miller, fueled by Team USA hopes. Not only are the PP points gonna come back (there's just no question last year's PP1 plummet wasn't an aberration) but only 6 defenders landed on the scoresheet more at even strength than Fox despite the "down" year. That 80-point plateau is in his crosshairs.

OK OK let me take off the rose-colored glasses for a second since I've got Rangers players essentially winning the Hart, Norris and Art Ross. That's not what I'm saying. What I AM saying is that these proven superstars are all surrounded by the perfect storm of individual circumstance. That doesn't always translate to success nor does it account for injury or anything else. All things considered though, when the arrow's pointing up for your team's three best skaters and those three have already been world-beaters very recently, it's hard not to get excited.

If you're a Blueshirts fan who was excited for the future being now though, sucks for you. No Perreault. No Othmann. No Berard. No Morrow. Not yet anyway. Shouldn't be a surprise. Everything the Rangers have done has told the hockey world loud and clear they still believe their time is now. Doesn't matter whether you agree. Sullivan was brought in to win now & prove last year was a fluke. So he's gonna start by leaning on his guys like Conor Sheary, who he used as a Swiss army knife forward deployed all over the lineup in Pittsburgh for Sheary's first 3 years in the show, to grind in that bottom six while being confident he can provide injury depth for the top of the lineup. The organization was obviously gonna start by giving looks to Parssinen (who's only 24) & Raddysh whom they both signed to two-year deals this summer. If you don't like it, blame waivers and entry-level contracts. Why immediately punt on non-waivers-exempt players you liked enough to sign when you can send down your youth penalty-free where marinating a little longer absolutely can't hurt? Their time will come.

The lone exception is an unexpected one. 22 year-old Noah Laba, pick #111 back in 2022, looks to have forced Sullivan's hand in getting first crack at the highly-questioned 3C slot. Laba not only won the Rangers team award for best rookie in camp, he was their best overall player. This kid personifies everything you want from a third-liner. Speed & physicality packaged in a 6'2" 210-lb. frame with an unrelenting motor he displayed all preseason in all situations. He racked up a PPG, an OTGWG, a SHA & 3 more ESP in 5 games and although Sullivan has yet to confirm, Laba centering Sheary and Raddysh in their last practice before opening night speaks volumes. Obviously point-per-game production isn't realistic on the pro level once the games count but if this kid can responsibly lock down their biggest lineup hole as a rookie, you can't ask for more.

To me, the biggest issue on paper is the Blueshirts defensive depth behind Fox & Gavrikov. Will Borgen isn't anything to get excited about but he's fine. Urho Vaakanainen is another "fine" defender who can also easily be replaced in the lineup as low man on the totem pole. So those two I'm not overly concerned about. The pressure is on the veteran Carson Soucy to prove he's not falling off the cliff many towering, solid-but-not-spectacular blueliners do as they start ripping through their 30's. Now I'm not gonna write him off over his poor play being thrown into the Rangers shitshow after indirectly acquiring him for Reilly Smith at the deadline…but there's also gotta be a reason Vancouver was willing to part with him too. Still, Soucy's another guy playing for his next contract and has some successful familiarity skating alongside Borgen in their Seattle days. Plus the switch from Laviolette's man-to-man scheme to a zone should benefit him.

My other defensive concern is Braden Schneider. At least one of he or Soucy has to pan out and give the Rangers a formidable top-four. Schneids hasn't really blossomed much after a promising start to his career & last season was arguably his worst. Despite an increase in minutes he was still tasked with sheltered defensive responsibility and the possession metrics were awful. He was disastrous with the puck on his stick - no Ranger gave it away at a higher clip - and the physical play that earned him the "Baby Trouba" moniker tapered off significantly. Turns out there was a good reason though, and playing through a torn labrum for TWO seasons is detrimental to your performance. That's been surgically repaired this offseason so the 24 year-old former first-rounder has no excuse, all opportunity this year. A healthy Schneider with the versatility to play both sides & return to a more punishing style is primed to either thrive in advantageous third-pair matchups or start scratching his mid-pair potential if Soucy ain't the one. I'll be honest though - watching him run PP2 makes me cringe but that unit's only gonna see 30 seconds anyway.

Last but certainly not least is the $11.5 million dollar man Igor Shesterkin. Even if everything I mentioned above goes right, this squad will still live or die on the shoulders of Shesty and let's face it - last season was a little scary. Sure the team was a disaster in front of him but whether it's via eyeballs or analytics, there's no denying Igor struggled. All year long was a roller coaster of 2.00/.930 stretches offset by abysmal runs of 4.00/.875. Quite literally the best and worst netminder multiple times throughout the '24-25 campaign. It would've been impossible for any human to succeed in his position, but up until last November I was certain Igor wasn't human at all. We were all ready to vault Shesterkin ahead of King Lundqvist in Blueshirts lore yet Hank never once had a drop-off like that until his career was winding down. Don't get it twisted, I still believe in him - but a year ago it was absurdly far-fetched to even hypothetically doubt him. That's changed. And the thing that scares me the most is, unlike all the promising circumstances surrounding a ton of his teammates I mentioned above, I got nothing to spin for Shesty. Just gotta write off last year like it never happened. The boys will almost certainly improve but, if Shesterkin is all of a sudden a goalie who only thrives behind a good squad & not the one who levels them up, hanging onto that 2026 first-rounder might be the best (and last) offseason move Chris Drury ever made. 

All that being said, just get to the dance. That's it. Whether it's the #1 or the #8 it doesn't matter.

And they will. It's silly to peg this team as what they put on display last season and ignore the success they had the three years prior when most of the major players are the same. The Rangers habitually zig when the hockey world zags in terms of expectations. Back them and they crumble. Doubt them and they surprise. I'm not a big enough homer to act like there aren't better squads in the East, but I'm smart enough to look around and see that none of the supposed conference powerhouses scare me as currently constructed. So when the Rangers are back at it with another 100-point campaign and a playoff invite just remember who told you so.

No B.S.

VIVA LA BLUESHIRTS!!!!