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Rangers, Maple Leafs examples of ‘how quickly things can unravel’ in NHL
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- Rangers, Maple Leafs examples of ‘how quickly things can unravel’ in NHL
There are three weeks remaining in the 2025-26 NHL regular season. And instead of a playoff preview or tune-up when they meet Wednesday night, the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves out of the postseason picture with the two worst records in the Eastern Conference.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
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The Rangers (28-34-9) are last in the East, and own the second-worst record in the League behind only the woeful Vancouver Canucks (21-41-8). The Maple Leafs (30-29-13) are tied for second to last in the East and 23rd overall in the NHL.
So, their clash — or crash, if you prefer — on Wednesday is more about ping-pong balls and the draft lottery than prepping for a run at Lord Stanley's chalice.
"It's interesting with the Rangers, if you think about where they were just a couple short years ago in a conference final (2024) to where they're at now, it just shows you, and the Leafs are another prime example, how quickly things can unravel," long-time NHL talk show host Nick Alberga told Forever Blueshirts on the Rink Rap podcast.
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Interestingly, Alberga's more surprised about the Rangers failure to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season. Remember, the Rangers already face-planted in 2024-25, becoming the fourth team in NHL history to miss the postseason one year after winning the Presidents' Trophy for having the best regular-season record in the League.
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And even though the Maple Leafs moved leading scorer Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights last offseason and lost captain Auston Matthews to a knee injury last week, they made the playoffs nine straight seasons before this one.
"I had the Rangers doing something significant this year. Not just making the playoffs, but maybe winning the Stanley Cup," Alberga stated. "I thought (new coach) Mike Sullivan was the answer to everything for that franchise. Yet, here we are, it's late in March, they're contending for a lottery pick and there's a lot of dysfunction, similar to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"I for one am very, very stunned that they're in this predicament right now."
Hosting "Leafs Morning Take" with former Maple Leafs forward Jay Rosehill each day in Toronto has Alberga hyper-focused on that team's woes. But the former NHL Network Radio host sees the parelels between the Maple Leafs and Rangers, a pair of struggling Original 6 teams.
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"There seems to be a lot of dysfunction, oozing of dysfunction, even watching from 3,000 feet the way I am here in Toronto as opposed to being right smack-dab on Broadway," Alberga noted. "I think very similar to the Maple Leafs, the chemistry has not been there for a couple years for this Rangers team.
"It feels like [the Rangers are] tail-spinning and heading the opposite direction. The worst part of this is that it feels like the heavy-lifting is yet to be done. What's the future of J.T. Miller look like? What's the future of Adam Fox look like? [ Vincent Trocheck ] didn't get dealt at the deadline. Where's this Alexis Lafreniere that Jonny Lazarus loves? There are just so many questions, and this is what happens when you lose, and lose routinely, the last couple of years."
Will Rangers or Maple Leafs turn fortunes around sooner?
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The Rangers missed the playoffs by six points a year ago, after setting franchise records for most wins (55) and points (114) the season prior. They reached the Eastern Conference Final in 2022 and 2024, and recorded three straight 100+-point seasons beginning in 2021-22. Now, they're on their way to the fewest points in a full schedule since 2018-19.
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The Maple Leafs never enjoyed the playoff success the Rangers did, but were consistently a contender for far longer than the Blueshirts. They reached the postseason every year since 2016-17, coinciding with Matthews' first season in the NHL. Twice in that stretch the Maple Leafs won their division and six times surpassed 100 points. But only twice did they advance as far as the second round in the playoffs, including last spring.
So, what happened in Toronto this season?
"For the Maple Leafs, I just think it's been a massive disappointment from the onset — whether it be goaltending or it's team defense, and the star players haven't pulled their own weight either. I know the numbers look appetizing on paper (67 points in 55 games) for Willy Nylander, but he's been a shell of himself in terms of being an all-around player this season. Auston Matthews has been a shell of a guy who scored 69 goals a couple year ago. Aside from Oliver Ekman-Larsson , everybody's had a down year. And I think that's why this team is in this predicament," Alberga explained.
The juicy question is which of these Original 6 teams can turn things around quicker. The Rangers certainly have the head start, since general manager Chris Drury started shuffling the deck last season and publicly declared a roster retool back in January. That's already led them to trade Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings , and consider all offers for Trocheck ahead of the trade deadline earlier in March.
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"It has to be the New York Rangers for me," Alberga said. "I think you look at the Rangers and you have a top-3 goalie in the NHL in Igor Shesterkin , a pretty good damn spot to start. I think they have some youth coming, even now I think you see Gabe Perreault , and [Noah] Laba's been a nice story this season. Even [Drew] Fortescue's coming. There's some prospects in that system for the Rangers, and that's not the case for the Maple Leafs. They have absolutely nothing. That's why, from an asset standpoint, they've got nothing to give up. So, I think their job is harder."
"I think the Rangers make a couple tweaks, a couple changes, and you pair that with Mike Sullivan, pound for pound one of the best coaches in my opinion in hockey. And I think you turn that quicker around than a Maple Leafs team that's aging, they didn't change their blue line at all, they're slower, and the motivation just doesn't seem to be there with the star players.
"So, I go with the Rangers."
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