The New York Rangers are going through their first rough patch of the season, with the team on a three-game losing streak and having lost five of their last six games. With some struggles, perhaps some changes will help them bounce back.
After a strong start to the season, the Rangers have fallen on some hard times of late. The injury to Igor Shesterkin has certainly put a damper on the season, and the team has not been playing as well as they were before. While New York is an impressive 6-1 at home, they have not been good on the road this year.
Some of the issues of late have come from their production from the second-pair and third-pair defensively. Now, there could be a shakeup.
Oct 24, 2026; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators right wing Claude Giroux (28) chases New York Rangers defenseman Alberts Smits (12) in the first period at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
In their most recent loss to the Los Angeles Kings, things came off the rails a bit for the Rangers early on, and it resulted in Mike Sullivan making some changes to his defensive pairs.
For nearly the entire season, the blueline has been pretty set for New York. Right from the start of camp, it has been Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov on the first pair, followed by Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson on the second pair. Rounding things out have been Braden Schneider and Alberts Smits.
In the beginning of the season especially, these pairs were doing well together. However, there has been some regression defensively and far too many mistakes.
With a good opportunity to shake things up, Mike Sullivan took it and flipped Durzi and Schneider. This created new pairs featuring Durzi and Smits along with Schneider and Pettersson.
In terms of Durzi, he has been playing a bit banged up right now, and that has perhaps hampered his play a bit. However, with the Rangers on a nice little break, getting him back to 100 percent will be good. The pairing of him along with Smits is an appealing one, and as the fifth overall pick continues his development, playing alongside Durzi can help him.
It will be interesting to see if these changes can spark something for New York. Furthermore, with Scott Morrow not making his season debut yet, getting him some playing time soon in one of the defensive spots also makes sense.
Overall, with some mistakes on the blueline of late, switching things up a bit makes a lot of sense for the Rangers, with them struggling.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nhl/rangers/onsi as NY Rangers May Have Found Their Next Major Lineup Decision .
