Let’s get the obvious out of the way first, that the New York Rangers struggles lasted throughout the 2025-26 NHL regular season. They missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs, traded away their best skater, and rumours surrounding other players getting traded were swirling. Even so, there’s a silver lining to the end of this season for the Rangers despite the overall disappointing year.
Credit Image: © Alie Skowronski/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
Young Guys Are Stepping up to Mitigate New York Rangers Struggles
The biggest thing Rangers fans can look forward to over these next few seasons is seeing younger players step up and outperforming expectations. Gabe Perreault had a very solid year with the Rangers. He looks more comfortable with each shift. He’s driving the offence and even helped reignite star Mika Zibanejad. Besides Perreault, Alexis Lafrenière played well towards the end of the season. Perhaps Lafrenière may finally be approaching his first-overall draft selection expectations.
RIGHT. ON. TARGET. pic.twitter.com/huEfaiz5xP
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) April 16, 2026
Other rookies showed out as well, namely Adam Sykora. He’s on the smaller side, but his speed and energy more than make up for it. He’s aggressive on the forecheck and has offensive upside too. Furthermore, Noah Laba is a surprise as well. He is supplying some offence but mainly showcasing as a two-way player. Jaroslav Chmelar and Brett Berard played some good games as well.
A Potential Diamond in the Rough Awaits
New York may have also found a potential third-line winger in Tye Kartye. Moreover, the Rangers claimed 24-year old Kartye off of waivers from the Seattle Kraken, and he’s showed out. While not projecting as a big star, Kartye saw time with J.T. Miller as his centreman, and scored 14 points in 24 games with New York. He’s big and isn’t scared to use his size to land big hits, something the Rangers desperately need.
It’s too early to say where Kartye will be in the lineup, but there’s a good chance he plays significant minutes for New York in the future.
#NYR spread in today’s @nypost ahead of game vs. Ottawa⬇️
Dylan Garand has NHL debut to remember ➡️ https://t.co/Yng5byEHqo
The Blueshirts may have found something in Tye Kartye ➡️ https://t.co/NgvzGyVx0N pic.twitter.com/WlHy6296Zt— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) March 23, 2026
What Needs to Improve in New York
Even with those positives, there were a lot of things that need to get better next year if the Rangers want to make the postseason. For starters, Miller needs to play better. As the captain, Miller needs to lead by example and play a well-rounded game, which didn’t happen this season. Several times this year, Miller gave up on plays, skated lazily, and didn’t seem to care. While that attitude may not be how he is in the locker room, fans will notice that lack of effort and accountability.
As a leader on this team, Miller needs to buy in to what he’s expecting the rest of his teammates to buy into. Miller did struggle with some injuries this season, which may have affected his play. If so, getting healthy and staying that way will be important for the veteran next season. Another player the Rangers need to get more from is William Cuylle. Cuylle improved in 2024-25, scoring 42 points in 82 games. A breakout was seemingly coming, but Cuylle actually played worse this season, scoring only 38 points in the same amount of games. Due to this, Cuylle was bumped off of the second line, replaced by Kartye.
Part of the Chris Drury letter to the fans was a promise that trading players like Artemi Panarin and Sam Carrick is meant to be a part of a retool, not a rebuild. New York is in a good place to do that, as the Rangers will be picking in the top five of the NHL Entry Draft this season, with decent odds at the first-overall pick, and a shot at superstar in the making Gavin McKenna. There are plenty of young prospects to watch for the Rangers, and we’ll get to that more as the season comes to a close.
Main Photo Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
