Can the New York Rangers make the playoffs in 2026?

The New York Rangers have not quite had the season they have hoped for, but remain in contention for a Stanley Cup Playoff spot in an ever-competitive Eastern Conference as the season nears the Olympic break. 

With the Winter Classic hype now behind them and defenseman Adam Fox settling in with the reality of his Team USA Olympic roster snub, the focus turns to the rest of the season and the potential of finding some improved play. 

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL video coach Steve Peters are joined by Morning Cuppa Hockey co-host Jonny Lazarus to discuss whether the Rangers could battle their way into the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

Steve Peters: My big question, though, is it too late? Is it too late for the New York Rangers to make the playoffs? Is this a team that can be in the playoffs?

Johnny Lazarus: I think they can. You look at the rest of the Eastern Conference, and it’s changing every day. The Rangers could easily be a team that could put together four or five in a row. I think anyone in the East right now kind of has that ability to put together a three-game winning streak and drastically move up the standings; that’s just what the Eastern Conference has been telling us this year. 

One thing I’ve pointed out that the Rangers are missing this year, and I asked head coach Mike Sullivan about this last week, when you’re playing five-on-five in the offensive zone, and a forward climbs the wall below the goal line, comes up the wall, and tries to get to the middle of the ice and put a puck on net, the Rangers lack that almost entirely. Artemi Panarin is probably one of the only forwards who can climb the wall. 

And then the defensemen are so stagnant on the blueline that you don’t have a constant five-man rotation. Even when they do, everything seems to be on the perimeter. When you watch teams like the New Jersey Devils, when they’re fully healthy, they have Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, who are constantly doing it. With the Colorado Avalanche, they’ve got Nathan MacKinnon; all those guys are out there, it’s just a different league. With the Rangers, when they have offensive zone pressure for like a minute, when it’s two shifts or three shifts in a row, they’re only really getting one or two chances out of that, where I feel like other teams are putting so much pressure on their opponent when they have those three shifts back-to-back-to-back in the offensive zone, when the opponent feels like they’re under siege, right and has to escape high pressure. I just don’t think opponents feel that when the Rangers are circling the offensive zone and it’s one or two looks, and then that’s it.

You can catch the full segment and the rest of Friday’s Olympic-heavy show here…