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5 things that must happen for Rangers return to playoffs in 2026-27
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- 5 things that must happen for Rangers return to playoffs in 2026-27
For New York Rangers fans, this is the time to fantasize about returning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after a two-year absence. With apologies to William Shakespeare, call it "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
General manager Chris Drury retooled this team markedly in less than a week, adding high-scoring forward Pavel Dorofeyev in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights , acquiring veteran defensemen Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi in separate trades and bringing in backup goaltender Joonas Korpisalo from the Boston Bruins .
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Dorofeyev adds a scorer to a lineup that needed one. Pettersson and Durzi should bolster the defense, and Korpisalo has the edge over rookie Dylan Garand for the backup goaltending job.
But that's not all the Blueshirts need to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2023-24. Here are five things that must happen for the Rangers to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2026-27.
Rangers top players must stay healthy
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Goaltender Igor Shesterkin and defenseman Adam Fox are the two most invaluable players on the Rangers. Losing each to injury on the same night for the final month prior to the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics was a backbreaker for a team that was already trying to play catch-up in the playoff race last season. Keeping them healthy is a must to have any hope to get back to the playoffs.
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Shesterkin injured his left leg in a goalmouth collision during the first period of the Rangers' 3-2 overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth on Jan. 5. Fox played 23:30 in that game, but sustained a lower-body injury that kept him out until New York's first post-Olympic game on Feb. 26. The 2021 Norris Trophy winner already missed almost all of December with an upper-body injury, and wound up playing only 55 games a year ago.
The Rangers were 2-11-0 in their 13 games without Shesterkin and Fox, a stretch that killed any hopes they had of a trip to the postseason. Though there appears to be more depth in the lineup and system this coming season, long-term injuries to their best players remain difficult to overcome. So, the Rangers need some better luck in 2026-27 when it comes to the health of their stars.
That includes their captain. J.T. Miller was injured shortly after getting the "C" during training camp last fall and never appeared to be 100 percent. Although he was able to help the United States win Olympic gold, Miller managed just 17 goals and 53 points in 68 games with the Blueshirts, often looking like he was playing at less than 100 percent physically.
The trade that sent Vincent Trocheck to Utah earlier this month puts more pressure on Miller to produce. So, it'd be helpful if he remains healthy, giving him the best chance to revert to the form that helped him average more than a point a game from 2021-25.
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That's especially important because …
Newcomer Pavel Dorofeyev must score– a lot
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Drury gave up three draft picks, including two first-rounders, to the Golden Knights for Dorofeyev, a right wing who scored 35 and 37 goals the past two seasons. The GM wasted little time inking the 25-year-old to a seven-year, $77 million contract; the deal's $11 million average annual value makes him the highest-paid skater on the Rangers.
The Rangers got Dorofeyev to do one thing: Put the puck in the net. They had only three 20-goal scorers last season and just one player ( Mika Zibanejad , 78) who had more than 57 points. New York was 23rd in non-shootout goals last season and can't afford that kind of non-production, especially at event strength, this season if it wants to get back to the playoffs.
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Unless coach Mike Sullivan opts to break-up the top-line (Zibanejad between Alexis Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault ) that worked so well in the final weeks of the season, Dorofeyev figures to play on a line centered by Miller, with free agent signee Oliver Bjorkstrand or rugged Will Cuylle likely on left wing.
At a minimum, the Rangers need their new sharpshooter to score at least 30 goals – and preferably many more. That means he and his new linemates must gel quickly at even strength. Dorofeyev is a finisher, not a playmaker, so it will largely be up to Miller to make sure he gets the puck in scoring position as often as possible.
Dorofeyev should provide a boost to an already potent Rangers power play, too. New York finished fifth among all teams in this category last season, and Dorofeyev's 20 power-play goals were second most in the League. Sounds like a perfect match, and one that can take a very good area of the Rangers game and make it great.
Choose best backup goaltender
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Shesterkin is among the League's top-five goaltenders. He often carries the Rangers and steals games on nights they have no business winning. But "Shesty" isn't Superman; he played as many as 60 games just once (61 in 2024-25) in seven NHL seasons. With Jonathan Quick retired and the NHL expanding the schedule to 84 games this season, whoever serves as his backup will likely be playing roughly one in every three games.
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Dylan Garand impressed in a late-season cameo (2-0-1, 1.62 goals-against average, .948 save percentage) – enough for the 24-year-old to earn a two-year, $1.75 million contract ($875,000 AAV) and, apparently, the backup job. But all that changed on July 1, when the Rangers acquired Korpisalo. The 32-year-old is a career backup (334 games) with a $3 million salary cap hit for each of the next two seasons who has a career GAA of 3.06 and a save percentage of .900.
It's a head-scratcher of a move – unless the Rangers don't think Garand is ready for an NHL job after four seasons in the American Hockey League. The Rangers can only bury $1.225 million of Korpisalo's contract if he's sent to the AHL after clearing waivers; Garand also would have to go through waivers to be returned to Hartford – but he's much more likely to be grabbed by another team.
With the days of goalies like Martin Brodeur playing 70+ games (he had 12 such seasons) long gone, Sullivan has a big decision on his hands: Does he go with a middling veteran as Shesterkin's backup — or take a flyer on a kid with all of three games of NHL experience?
New No. 2 defense pairing must mesh
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The Rangers retooled the defense by bringing in two veterans, Pettersson from the Vancouver Canucks and Durzi from Utah in the Trocheck trade, to fill a major hole.
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The two are likely to form the No. 2 pairing behind Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov, Pettersson is a left-shot veteran who's defensive-minded and has seven years of experience playing for Sullivan with the Pittsburgh Penguins . Durzi shoots right-handed, moves the puck well and can quarterback a power play.
They sound like a good fit – one defense-minded, the other more focused on offense. Pettersson kills penalties (2:43 average ice time in 82 games last season); Durzi averaged 1:19 of power-play time, mostly running the second unit.
If the Pettersson-Durzi pairing meshes, the Rangers' defense figures to get a major boost. It would enable them to put Braden Schneider and one of Matthew Robertson , Urho Vaakanainen , Alberts Smits , or Drew Fortescue on the third pairing, where they can be sheltered a bit, and not overwork the Fox-Gavrikov duo.
Alexis Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault must take next step
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One of the few positives of the post-Olympic portion of last season was the way Lafreniere and Perreault combined with Zibanejad to form an effective first line following the trade that sent Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings. For the Rangers to have any chance to make the playoffs, Lafreniere and Perreault must build on their late-season performances.
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The Blueshirts have been waiting for Lafreniere to live up to his status as the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. But he had arguably the best stretch of his six NHL seasons after the Olympics, putting up 12 goals and 25 points in the Rangers' last 25 games. It was enough to provide hope that the 24-year-old can become more than just a decent NHL player.
Perreault, the Rangers' first-round pick (No. 23 overall) in 2023, also found his scoring touch after the Olympics, recording nine goals and 19 points in 25 games. The 21-year-old still needs to get stronger and faster, but he showed that his passing skills and hockey smarts are already NHL-caliber.
But finishing strong when your team is long gone from the playoff race is one thing; playing a whole season at that level is quite different. The Rangers need Lafreniere and Perreault to continue the improvement they showed late last season to have any realistic shot at the playoffs.
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