New York Rangers’ 2025-26 Report Cards: Mike Sullivan – The Hockey Writers – New York Rangers

The New York Rangers entered the 2025-26 season with hopes of making the playoffs, but they finished with the worst record in the Eastern Conference. Though there were some positives and some of their young players showed promise, it was a frustrating first season with New York for head coach Mike Sullivan.

Performance in 2025-26

The Rangers hired Sullivan after he spent 10 seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins and won the Stanley Cup twice. Under former head coach Peter Laviolette, New York had won the Presidents’ Trophy and made a run to the Eastern Conference Final in 2023-24, but struggled defensively and missed the playoffs in 2024-25.

Under Sullivan, the Rangers were much better defensively early in the season, and limited chances from the slot and odd-man rushes. However, their improved defensive play did not translate into victories as they failed to produce enough offensively to consistently win games. They were held to two goals or fewer in 19 of their first 35 games and were shut out in seven of those games.

Though Mika Zibanejad had a great season, Rangers’ captain J.T. Miller struggled, and stars Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin both missed extended time with injuries. Backup goalie Jonathan Quick struggled while Shesterkin was out, and the team fell well out of the playoff race. General manager Chris Drury traded star winger Artemi Panarin, who was in the final season of his contract, to the Los Angeles Kings.

Late in the season, young forward Gabe Perreault got an opportunity to play with Zibanejad on the Rangers’ top line and was excellent late in the season. Alexis Lafreniere also played on the line and, after slumping early in the season, broke out on his new line. Rookies Adam Sykora and Jaroslav Chmelar got called up from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL) and played with physicality while chipping in offensively as bottom six forwards.

Sullivan continued giving veterans like Conor Sheary consistent ice time with the team well out of the playoff race, but started giving younger players more ice time as the season went on. The strong play of the young forwards and rookie defenseman Matthew Robertson was a positive way to end the season despite finishing with a 34-39-9 record.

Higher Expectations in 2026-27

The Rangers made some big additions this offseason as they acquired Pavel Dorofeyev, Sean Durzi, and Marcus Pettersson in separate trades and signed free agent Oliver Bjorkstrand to a one-season contract. The hope is that Dorofeyev, who scored 35 goals in 2024-25 and 37 goals last season, can help New York offensively.

The Rangers had better structure last season under Sullivan than they did in 2024-25, but their offensive issues hurt them early on, and when Fox got hurt, they did not have any other offensive defensemen they could rely on. This season, Durzi and Pettersson have the potential to form a strong second defense pair, and Durzi has the talent to produce offensively. They also drafted defenseman Alberts Smits fifth overall in the 2026 NHL Draft, and he has an opportunity to make the team and contribute.

Sullivan will have to figure out the best line combinations, defense pairs, and special teams units with a lot of new additions. If he can, the Rangers should be better than they were last season.

Overall Grade

Sullivan gets a C+ for his first season with the Rangers. While injuries certainly hurt the team, he did not get the most out of some of their key players, and finishing with the worst record in the Eastern Conference was disappointing. New York should have more depth after some offseason acquisitions, and the hope is that they will improve this season.