Rangers Can Finish Top 3 in the Metro Division Next Season

The Blue Jackets had an amazing year last season that no one expected them to have after the tragedy they experienced before the season, with the sudden and unexpected passing of Johnny Gaudreau. They were able to remain in the fight for a playoff spot until the very end, but came up short. They haven’t added any major players this offseason, and while they could try and build off what they did last season, their roster on paper doesn’t seem good enough to make the playoffs. The Islanders were gifted the first overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, and that truly changed the direction of the team going forward. They are looking to get younger, and with the trade of Noah Dobson, they have entered a retooling period with the hopes that Mat Barzal and Bo Horvat can lead the way as the young players they have drafted come up into the NHL.

It’s a confusing time for Flyers fans, as they have been stuck in this mediocre position for many years now. Never good enough to make the playoffs, but never bad enough to get a top-five draft pick. It still seems like they will be in the same position next season, because while they did trade for Trevor Zegras, they didn’t make any other moves to help improve the team to the point where they would be fighting for a playoff spot. For the Penguins, it’s clear they are in a full-on rebuild. Aside from Sidney Crosby, it seems every other player is available for the right price. Names like Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, and Erik Karlsson have been in trade rumors all offseason, and now, it’s a question of when those names will be traded. The Rangers should be better than these teams next season, and that’s already half of the division.

The Top 3 From Last Season Don’t Look Much Better

The top three teams in the Metro last season were the Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes, and New Jersey Devils. The Capitals were not expected to be a top team, but they defied the odds and were led by a motivated Alex Ovechkin. They were knocked out in the second round by the Hurricanes, and so far this offseason, they have not added any big names to make the team better for next season. They lost Andrew Mangiapane and Taylor Raddysh to free agency, and the only significant move they have made was re-signing Anthony Beauvillier. Their top players are still getting older, and it’s not a safe bet that they can repeat the success they had last season. They are once again going to have to rely on their younger players taking another step if they want to be successful.

The Devils were knocked out in the first round by the Hurricanes last season, and they were without Jack Hughes for that matchup. They also need to give Luke Hughes a new contract as he is still a restricted free agent. They added some depth pieces in free agency, with the signings of Connor Brown and Evgenii Dadonov, and while they are still going to be a good team next season, they are still going to be a Hughes (Jack) injury away from being right back to what they were last season. It’s clear that the offense runs through him, and the Devils are not deep enough when he is out of the lineup. He has suffered two major injuries in the last two seasons, and with the minimal improvements they have made, they could be on the outside looking in.

The Hurricanes have made some big changes to their roster and are likely the favorites to win the division next season. They signed Nikolaj Ehlers and traded for K’Andre Miller. With Ehlers, it’s a major addition to their forward core, and they needed another player like him to help fill out their top six. With Miller, he still has some upside to his game, and maybe he could fit well in their system, but they did give up some good assets and gave him an eight-year deal worth $7.5 million per season. While the Hurricanes will still be a great regular-season team, they didn’t become harder to play against, and that will hurt them come playoff time. The Hurricanes are the only team that I think is a lock to finish ahead of the Rangers in the regular season in 2025-26.

The Rangers Are Going to Bounce Back

Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong for the Rangers last season. They have made multiple changes over the course of the last season and into this offseason that they think will help this team bounce back next season. They brought in a new head coach in Mike Sullivan, who has been the man they wanted behind the bench for years now. He’s here to help establish a new culture of winning in New York, and the team should respond well to him and get the “new coach bump” that many teams get when they bring in a new coach. They are also going to be getting a full season from J.T. Miller, who played amazingly after he arrived from the Vancouver Canucks. Add that to another season of Artemi Panarin, and hopefully, Mika Zibanejad can find his game again, and those three could be one of the best offensive trios in the league next season if all goes right.

On the backend, hopefully, an offseason to rest and heal up helps Adam Fox get back to the level he was playing at when he won the Norris Trophy. While he hasn’t been bad by any means, there is still another level to his game that he can reach. A healthy Fox playing next to his new defensive partner, Vladislav Gavrikov, could end up being one of the top defensive pairings in the league next season. And, the Rangers will always have a chance to be a top team in the league when they have Igor Shesterkin in goal. He didn’t have the best season in 2024-25, but now that he is the highest-paid goalie in the league, the pressure is going to be on him to perform at a high level each game, and he is capable of doing that. The Rangers have the pieces in place to have a bounce-back season; the question now is, can they?

This upcoming season isn’t about retooling or rebuilding for the Rangers. It’s about getting back into the playoffs and getting a shot at the Stanley Cup. Nobody wants a repeat of last season, and anything close to that next season will result in even more changes to this team going forward. With the rest of the teams in the Metro Division not getting much better, or in some cases, getting worse, this could be the time for the Rangers to claim one of the top three spots in the division next season.