It’s that time of year again. The Rangers report for Training camp tomorrow for the 2026-27 season after two years in which they fell far short. Mike Sullivan is entering the second year of his five year contract, looking to return to the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. That feels like a long stretch to be honest.

To help him get there, General Manager Chris Drury has made some important changes to the roster. Jonathan Quick retired, Vincent Trocheck was traded, and Pavel Dorofeyev, Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson were brought in. Just because he needed more bodies, a couple of forwards coming off down years in Oliver Bjorkstrom and Eeli Tolvanen.

If nothing else, it’s an intriguing situation for the Rangers who are a bit of a wild card in a weakened Metropolitan Division. So lets put on our rose-colored glasses and take a look at how things might play out.

MIDDLING PERFORMANCES

Your top two centers are both 33, and turn 34 in the spring. One – Mika Zibanejad, bounced back last season, the other…well he didn’t. The Rangers top center remains Zibanejad, and the team will hope that he can continue to age gracefully as he heads towards the latter stages of his career. The defensive side of his game hasn’t been quite as crisp, though he still was slightly better than even on xGF% at 50.50%.

He’ll clearly remain the top center in the organization, which wouldn’t be so bad if the Rangers had some guys starting to come through. They just don’t.

As for the other guy? Captain J.T. Miller had his worst offensive production since 2018-19 when he was with Tampa. He was oft-injured, and was called out publicly for his poor defensive play. We took a deep dive on him over the summer, but it’s clear the Rangers will need him to be better than he was last season. It feels a situation ripe for disappointment, so we’ll just have to cross our fingers and hope he tries harder.

Behind them will almost certainly be Noah Laba. Laba was a surprise in camp last year, working his way into an opening night line up spot with his hustle. It didn’t hurt that competition was light – Juuso Parssinen fell flat once more, but nevertheless the then 22-year-old seized the opportunity. He had a solid first year, scoring 9 goals and 24 points in 74 games.

In year two he’ll expected to make a jump and get into the mid teens in terms of goals and more like 35-40 points. It’s a lot to ask of the kid, but with the uncertainty around Miller, they need him to step up.

Rounding out the group will likely be Joe Veleno. Signed in the offseason, Veleno comes in as a replacement for Sam Carrick, who was traded away at the deadline. Veleno brings speed and at least some defensive acumen…and a little bit of offense. Last year with the Canadiens he had just 5 points in 61 games, though he averages more like 9 goals and 22 points over a full season across his career.

If there’s an injury, then it’s likely either Dylan Roobroeck, Justin Dowling or maybe Cole Beaudoin who are next in line. Dowling is the veteran who got two games last season, while Roobroeck might have a shot if he continues a solid start to camp. Beaudoin is the new shiny object, but an injury during rookie camp may have put him at a disadvantage. Parssinen too could be pressed into service, though that seems increasingly unlikely.

LEFT OF CENTER

Last year the Rangers ended the season with Gabe Perreault on the top line. He formed an effective line with Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere, and quickly grew into the role. The addition of Dorofeyev back in June means that Sullivan has some options going into camp.

The 25-year-old Russian is clearly the most accomplished winger on the Rangers, having scored 37 and 35 goals respectively over the past two seasons. Can he replicate that in New York where he won’t have the same sort of creative line-mates. Well that’s the question isn’t it? It’s also not clear who he might gel with more effectively, with neither Miller nor Zibanejad standout play makers.

I think there’s a good chance that Perreault will stay with Zibanejad and Dorofeyev will start out with Miller, and I think that might be the best solution. Camp will sort that out, but that’s where I’m going without having seen the Russian play with either center.

Behind them will be Will Cuylle. Cuylle had a bit of a flat season last year, matching his career high of 20 goals, but slipping down to 38 points after a career high of 45 the previous season despite averaging a career high of 16:51 per game. A return of 20 goals and 40 points seems about right again for 2026-27. A little more support on the right wing and a second season for Laba could help that increase. That would be an above par total for a third liner.

Who’ll play fourth line is more of a question right now. Adam Sykora finished last season in that spot, but will likely find himself pushed out of the line-up because he still doesn’t have to clear waivers. The guy who seems to have the best chance there would be Tye Kartye. Claimed off waivers last year, Kartye spent most of his time as a third line right wing, and contributed some useful offense there. With the additions of Bjorkstrand and Tolvanen, he’s going to get pushed down, and this seems to be the most likely spot for him.

Rookies Nathan Aspinall and Liam Greentree are both intriguing left wing prospects, but neither really fits the roll of a 4th liner. There likely path will come in the event of an injury, though there are veterans like Taylor Raddysh and Matt Rempe who are more likely to slot in initially if that were to happen.

RIGHTEOUS

Lafreniere is clearly the top Rangers right wing at this stage. We’re all still waiting for the first overall pick to break out, and he did have a pretty solid finish to the season last year. Perhaps this is the year? Probably not, but maybe. Hitting 30 goals for the first season would be a big plus. He has it in him if he can maintain some consistency over the full season.

Last season Miller played a number of games at right-wing alongside Vincent Trocheck. It isn’t his preferred position, and now that he’s back in the center spot it opens up other options. The most likely guy that they’ll start with is Bjorkstrand. Signed to a one-year deal after struggling in Tampa, he’ll look to get back closer to his career average of around 20 goals.

Tolvanen then would slot in on the third line and hopefully provide some more scoring there. He’s scored at 20+ goal space every other season over the past six, and if the pattern holds then he should be back on pace this year. Signed to a one-year $1.5M deal, he took a significant discount after not finding a suitable partner for much of the off-season. With both he and Cuylle on the same line, there’ll likely be a lot of hitting from the third line this year, maybe freeing up more opportunity for Laba down the middle.

Down on the fourth line Sullivan has options. Jaroslav Chmelar stepped into the role last season and scored 4 goals and 6 points in 28 appearances. He averaged only 9:09 of ice per game, but contributed a little bit of everything. Unfortunately for him, he’s also waiver-exempt and he may end up being a casualty early in the season to allow the Rangers to keep another veteran.

The most likely veterans would be either Raddysh or Rempe. Raddysh missed 11 of the last 20 games, and may not fit in with the team going forward. Rempe also missed a lot of time last season due to a hand injury that required two surgeries to fix. Has the team moved past him? Can he carve out a role as a guy who can provide something different to the team. At the very least he looks like a guy who could be a 13th forward and be inserted for specific match-ups.

If we’re going on fit and potential, then Chmelar looks the best option. If it’s to keep as many players in the mix early on, then one of Raddysh or Rempe seems to be more likely. I’m going to go out on a little bit of a limb and slot Chmelar in here.

There’s not a lot of guys behind the NHLers, but maybe a guy like Brody Lamb or Dowling might be next in line if injuries hit hard.

BLUESHIRT BLUELINE

Defense might be the easiest to project right now, with Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov returning as the top pair. Backing them up is the newly constituted second pair of Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson. The third pair looks to reunite Braden Schneider with Matthew Robertson after playing together in Hartford. The reduced responsibility will help Schneider’s game.

Alberts Smits was touted as a potential guy who could work his way into the line-up. There’s also Drew Fortescue, Scott Morrow and Vincent Iorio, all pushing for greater role. All three made their Rangers debut last season. Oh, and then there’s the forgotten guy Urho Vaakanainen. The Finn looks primed to be the first guy on tap in case of injury.

It’s a crowded field for sure, but the top six looks pretty easy to project right now barring an injury during camp.

NET PROPHET

Igor Shesterkin is once again the Rangers starter, but who will back him up will supposedly be determined in camp. Joonas Korpisalo was acquired back in July to “compete” for the backup role, and would seemingly have the inside track there. He’s struggled to get his Save% over .900 for much of his career, and is probably not a guy who is going to win you a lot of games by himself. Last season he had a -8.94 goals saved against average – that means he gave up around nine more than an average goaltender in just 31 games. His previous season he was closer to average at -.0.82.

Competing with him is Dylan Garand. Garand has struggled to break through with the Rangers, finally getting a cameo late last season where he performed admirably against average opposition. In his three games, he posted a .948 Sv% to go with a 1.62 GAA.

It’s not a huge sample size. Playing for a bad Hartford Wolf Pack team last year – .896 Sv% and 2.83 GAA, doesn’t help either. The Rangers seem reluctant to trust him, hence the acquisition of Korpisalo. It’s not an ideal situation for New York who would probably rather have Garand start the year in Hartford and build on his NHL debut. This would allow him to build on his debut, though he’d have to clear waivers to do that.

I’m going to be cynical here as a result, and predict Garand gets cut and Korpisalo gets the starting job.

YOUR OPENING NIGHT ROSTER

With all that said, this is my projection for the opening night roster: