The New York Rangers know one thing about the upcoming season: They'll be spending more time traveling than they did last season.
The Blueshirts will travel 38,929 miles in the 2025-26 season, according to figures compiled by OilersNation from NHL data. That's 19th among the NHL's 32 teams and the fifth-most among the 16 teams in the Eastern Conference — but it's up from 35,300 in 2024-25, when they were 29th.
As is usually the case, Eastern Conference teams will spend less time in the air than their Western Conference counterparts. The Dallas Stars have an NHL-high 49,549 travel miles this season, with the San Jose Sharks next at 48,847. The 10 teams with the most travel miles are all from the West; the Pittsburgh Penguins lead all Eastern Conference teams with 43,419, although that includes a round trip to Stockholm, Sweden, for two Global Series games against the Nashville Predators in mid-November.
Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
The New York Islanders have the least travel mileage with 28,953; they are the only team with less than 30,000 miles.
The Rangers will do most of their serious traveling in the first half of the season. The Blueshirts have a four-game, seven-day trip in late October and early November that will send them to Western Canada, followed by a three-game, five-day swing through Vegas, Colorado and Utah the week before Thanksgiving.
The Blueshirts' longest trip in term of time away from home comes during the holiday season. They visit the Nashville Predators on Dec. 21 and the Washington Capitals two nights later before the NHL takes its three-day Christmas break. The Blueshirts get back into action on Dec. 27 when they visit the Islanders at UBS Arena, then continue their trip against the Carolina Hurricanes and Capitals before beginning the new year by facing the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in the NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 2 at loanDepot Park in Miami.
The last long-distance trip comes in mid-January, a three-game, five-day run through California that begins with a back-to-back against the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 19 and the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 20.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
That back-to-back in Southern California is one of 13 on the Rangers' schedule – tied for the fewest among Eastern Conference teams. All eight teams with fewer back-to-backs than the Rangers are from the West.
Five teams, including the Islanders and Penguins, are tied for the most back-to-backs with 16. The Rangers and Penguins play a League-leading 10 games at home in the second half of a back-to-back.
Despite missing the playoffs one season after winning the Presidents' Trophy, the Rangers were among the NHL's best teams in the second half of back-to-back games. They were 8-5-1, a .607 points percentage that made them one of 11 teams to finish above .500 in those games.
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