Five questions facing the Rangers heading into training camp
Rangers center Mika Zibanejad reacts after scoring a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 16 at Madison Square Garden. Credit: Noah K. Murray
After a playoff-less spring, a subsequent coaching change, and a super-long summer, the Rangers open training camp for the 2025-26 season on Thursday.
New coach Mike Sullivan will be working with a somewhat revamped roster from the group that made the playoffs three straight years (2022-24) and reached the Eastern Conference finals in two of those years. Franchise icon Chris Kreider is gone, traded to Anaheim over the summer, and so too is defenseman K’Andre Miller, who was sent to Carolina in a sign-and-trade deal in July. Preceding them out the door were former captain Jacob Trouba, Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil, Ryan Lindgren and others.
Artemi Panarin returns – in the final year of his contract, with no indication that he’ll be signing an extension anytime soon – and Mika Zibanejad is back, hoping to rebound from what was probably the most disappointing year of his career. J.T. Miller, who was re-acquired at the end of January from Vancouver, is the new captain, the team announced Tuesday.
As Sullivan enters his first Rangers camp, aiming to lead them back into the playoffs, there are a ton of questions facing him. Here are five:
1. Is Zibanejad a center or a winger?
It’s the No. 1 question going into camp, and according to nhl.com reporter Dan Rosen in a recent interview with NHL Network, Sullivan told him this summer that Zibanejad, the former No. 1 center, will at least start out as a winger, playing on a line with Miller.
Zibanejad had a miserable first half of the season last year, but when the Rangers traded for Miller, then-coach Peter Laviolette decided to shift Zibanejad from center to right wing and play him on Miller’s line. The move seemed to revitalize Zibanejad, and Rosen said Sullivan told him he intends to keep Zibanejad and Miller together, at least to start.
2. Will Vladislav Gavrikov be Adam Fox’s new defense partner?
Presumably, that’s the plan, after the Russian signed with the Rangers as a free agent July 1. But Laviolette didn’t do that last season. Despite some encouraging numbers together at the start of the year, Laviolette opted not to put his top two defensemen, Fox and K’Andre Miller, together. He instead chose to partner Miller with Will Borgen, to create a matchup pair to go against opposing teams’ top lines.
If Sullivan takes the same approach, and puts Gavrikov with Borgen, that would leave Fox – who cycled through a number of partners last season – auditioning potential new partners in the preseason. And that doesn’t seem great. The former Norris Trophy winner needs a stable partner this year, and Gavrikov seems the logical choice.
3. Which young player – or players – have a chance to force his/their way onto the team with a strong preseason?
Entering camp, the assumption is that Brett Berard, Brennan Othmann and Gabe Perreault will be battling for a spot on the third line, but there’s always a chance someone comes out of nowhere to steal a spot. Defenseman Scott Morrow, acquired from Carolina in the K’Andre Miller trade, stood out in last weekend’s rookie games against the Flyers in Allentown, Pa., and seems a safe bet to be on the Opening Night roster. Noah Laba, who centered the top line between Othmann and Perreault in Allentown, looked good and scored a goal in the second game Saturday. Could he make a case for a look as the third-line center?
4. In his fifth season, can Braden Schneider break into the top four on defense?
The righthander’s been a lineup regular since the middle of the 2021-22 season, but he’s mostly played on the third pair, first behind Fox and Trouba on the right side, and now behind Fox and Borgen. But Schneider played a little on the left side early last season, so maybe this preseason he could get a look on the left, next to Borgen on the second pair?
5. Can Matt Rempe become a more effective player this year?
He’s 6-9, 255, full of personality, and definitely a fan favorite. And we’ve seen him create havoc on the ice for two years now. But is there any more to his game? Presuming he’s the fourth-line right wing, with his pal, 6-7 Adam Edstrom on the left, and Sam Carrick in the middle, can Rempe, first of all, avoid suspensions and play the full season? And if so, might he be able to screen some goalies and tip a few pucks in? Could he maybe get 5 or 10 goals?
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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