After four articles and over 3,500 words on the New York Rangers, hopefully you’re still with me as I wrap up this series with some Rangers predictions and final thoughts. The 2025-2026 season is an especially interesting one, as no one really knows what to expect from the Blueshirts in their first year under Mike Sullivan. A 105-point season really doesn’t seem insane, but a 75-point season really doesn’t feel insane either. The reality is somewhere in the middle, probably a bottom-tier playoff team like the Blueshirts suit up.
Follow this series from Brandon:
If I had to make a Rangers prediction, I’d say they finish with 93 points and squeak into the play-offs. My logic is that the team simply can’t be as bad as last season/under the last regime. That should explain a few more points. Add new coach Boost and BAM, you have a likely playoff team.
Still, one thing that irritates me about this Rangers team is the lack of offense. The Rangers are heavily counting on the likes of Mika Zibanejad, Will Cuylle and Alexis Lafreniere to have big seasons. Cuylle was excellent last season, but Zibanejad and Lafreniere both had down years. Counting on all three to play huge roles is a risky approach, but one the Rangers had to realistically make after spending most of their cap space on Vladislav Gavrikov.
This is consistent with the Cup-winning teams Sullivan had in Pittsburghwith two scoring lines and two mainly defensive lines that have added tertiary attack.
Adding Gavrikov should help the Rangers defense immensely. Gavrikov is an elite defensive back on a team that was historically poor on defense last season. However, given Rangers’ gluttony of defensive backs, I can’t help but wonder if Scott Morrow will be called up sooner rather than later to help some of the back-end runs. It will be great to see the Rangers more reliable in their own zone, but the defense will still need to chip offensively, especially with the forward corps no longer a major strength.
Another thought bouncing around my head is the future of Gabe Perreault. If it were up to me, Perreault would be on the opening night roster as the final member of the top six, with Will Cuylle in the bottom six. My logic is that Cuylle has proven to be a huge asset for the bottom-six Rangers, and removing that advantage will hurt them on the ice. Placing Perreault in the top six would help his development, while Cuylle can continue to shine on the third line.
Still, I understand the Rangers wanting to do everything possible to get things right with Perreault. It’s a refreshing change of pace from an organization that has done everything wrong with the development of Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere. I’ll only really believe it when Perreault is called up and gets regular PP time and top six chances. A player like Perreault doesn’t develop 9 minutes per night and zero PP time on the third line.
My personal suggested line-up would be:
Alexis Lafreniere-Jt Miller-Mika Zibanejad
Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Gabe Perreault
Will Cuylle-Noah Laba-Brett Berard
Adam Edstrom-Sam Carrick-Matt Rempe
I’m sure Taylor Raddysh is a good player, but he’s yelling about an acquisition that just isn’t necessary and was made under the misunderstanding that the kids weren’t quite ready. With Raddysh in the line-up, two of Noah Laba, Brett Berard and Juuso Parsinen should be out of the line-up. Those players (although you can argue against Parsinen) have futures with this organization that should be prioritized. Raddysh is who he is at this moment.
I don’t expect to complain as much in the Mike Sullivan era as I did in the Peter Laviolette era, but that’s one area where I can see myself being upset. Raddysh is very replaceable and the kids need to play.
As for my final predictions, let’s go:
Metro division
- Carolina Hurricanes
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Rangers
- Washington Capitals (WC)
- Columbus Blue Jackets (WC)
- New York Islanders
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Pittsburgh Penguins
Atlantic Ocean:
- Tampa Bay Lightning
- Florida Panthers
- Ottawa Senators
- Montreal Canadiens
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Detroit Red Wings
- Buffalo Sabres
- Boston Bruins
Peaceful:
- Edmonton Oilers
- Vegas Golden Knights
- Calgary Flames
- La Kings (WC)
- Anaheim duck
- Vancouver Canucks
- San Jose Sharks
- Seattle Kraken
Central:
- Dallas Stars
- Colorado Avalanche
- Minnesota Wild
- Utah Mammoth (WC)
- St Louis Blues
- Winnipeg Jets
- Nashville Predators
- Chicago Blackhawks
Play-offs:
Eastern Conference
- Hurricanes over blue jackets
- Lightning over capital cities
- Rangers about devils
- Senators over Panthers
- Hurricanes over Rangers
- Senators about lightning
- Senators on Hurricanes
Western Conference
- Stars above kings
- Oilers over mammoth
- Flames over Golden Knights
- Avalanche over game
- Avalanche over stars
- Oilers over flames
- Avalanche over Oilers
Stanley Cup Final
- Avalanche sweeps the Senators to win the Stanley Cup.
Prices
- Hart- Connor McDavid
- Norris-cale makar
- Vezina – Igor Shesterkin
That’s it for my series. Enjoy the 2025-2026 season!
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