4 Things Rangers: One Week Until Opening Night at MSG

BEST IN CLASS
The Eastern Conference has been dominated the last six years by the two Florida teams. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers have reached the last six Stanley Cup finals, winning two each.

Here’s a look at their top assets:

When folks ask me why I’m so confident the New York Rangers will be back in the playoffs in 2025-26, it’s because their top people compare favorably to the best in the Eastern Conference.

1. Mike Sullivan, a 2x Stanley Cup Champion, is a Top 5 head coach.
2. Igor Shesterkin, a former Vezina Trophy winner, is a Top 5 goaltender.
3. Adam Fox, a former Norris Trophy winner, is a Top 10 defenseman.
4. Artemi Panarin, a former Hart Trophy finalist, is a Top 15 winger.
5. JT Miller, their new captain, is a Top 20 center.

Now, those ranks are my own, but they are rooted in facts, not emotion. And that’s the primary reason why I think season 100 will eliminate the sting of season 99.

DRUNKEN SAILORS
Due to the pandemic, the NHL Salary Cap was stagnant for many years. As a result, teams complained about a lack of flexibility. When it was announced that the cap was rising, teams, players and fans rejoiced:

• 2020-21 ($81.5m)
• 2021-22 ($81.5m)
• 2022-23 (82.5m)
• 2023-24 ($83.5m)
• 2024-25 ($88m)
• 2025-26 ($95.5m)
• 2026-27 ($104m)
• 2027-28 ($113.5m)

My hope was that teams would show a modicum of restraint, enabling them to stop the trend of rushing kids on entry-level contracts to the NHL, and forcing productive bottom six vets to either accept PTOs or play out their careers in Europe.

Which brings me to the title of this section. “Spending like a drunken sailor” apparently is a term that originated in the 1700s. Not sure if NHL GMs will appreciate the analogy, but look at these recent deals:

• Luke Hughes ($9m AAV) – Despite playing only 155 games, with limited leverage since he is not arbitration eligible coming off of his entry-level contract, the third most famous Hughes’ brother will account for 9% of the New Jersey Devils’ cap in 2025-26.
• Kirill Kaprizov ($17m AAV) – Minnesota Wild commit 16.3% of the 2026-27 cap, and 15% of the 2027-28 cap to one of the NHL’s most exciting players. Yet, Kaprizov has only topped 100 points once in his five-year career.

As I said yesterday on X, “if the player is not nicknamed McJesus or has the last name Tkachuk, I don’t want to spend $17m on a single player.”

ICYMI: “4 Things Rangers: Projecting the Opening Night Roster”

OTHMANN DOWN BUT SCOUTING UP
Rangers Twitter had a field day on Tuesday when Brennan Othmann was sent down to the Hartford Wolfpack a full week before the start of the New York Rangers season. The move fed the narrative that the Rangers development department has left something to be desired.

Most of that perception is driven by two former Top 10 picks — Lias Andersson (7^th overall, 2017) and Vitali Kravtsov (9^th overall, 2018). Plus, the Rangers recently traded three other former first round picks in an 8-month stretch — Filip Chytil (21^st overall, 2017), K’Andre Miller (22^nd overall, 2018), and Kaapo Kakko (2^nd overall, 2019).

While that drafting record is hard to defend, you have to give the Rangers scouts credit for doing better in the later rounds by adding depth and quality prospects.

2019
F Adam Edstrom (6^th round, 161 overall)

2020
F Will Cuylle (2^nd round, 60^th overall)
G Dylan Garand (4^th round, 103^rd overall)
F Brett Berard (5^th round, 134^th overall)
F Matt Rempe (6^th round, 165^th overall)

2022
F Noah Laba (4^th round, 111^th overall)
D Victor Mancini (5^th round, 159^th overall)**

**Mancini was traded on 1-31-25 to the Vancouver Canucks in the JT Miller deal.

2023
F Dylan Roobroeck (6^th round, 178^th overall)

2025
F Malcolm Spence (2^nd round, 43^rd overall)

Regarding Othmann, Sullivan gave a very thoughtful answer when asked about him being sent down. Watching him play 22 games last season and reading between the lines of what Sully was saying, Othmann needs to prove he can handle bottom 6 responsibilities before getting called back up. Considering his willingness to mix it up, he should get another chance to win over Rangers fans.

THE CANADIAN ACQUITTED FIVE
The five former members of Team Canada’s 2018 World Junior team — Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, and Michael McLeod will be eligible to sign with an NHL franchise on October 15 and then commence playing on December 1.

It is up to the Rangers’ front office to do the background checks and research to determine if they would be comfortable signing one of these players. That’s (thankfully) not my responsibility. But solely from a hockey perspective, there is one player who I would suggest the Rangers do a deep dive on.

Formenton won the CCM Fastest Skater event at the 2020 AHL All-Star Skills Competition. He’s feisty and has a decent scoring touch. In 2021-22, his only full season in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators, he put up the following numbers:

• 79 games played.
• 18 goals
• 14 assists
• 32 points
• 59 penalty minutes
• 101 hits

Formenton killed penalties that season. I remember watching him thinking he has an element to his game that the Rangers haven’t had since Michael Grabner and Carl Hagelin.

He’s got the game, does he have the character? That’s up to them to decide.

ICYMI: “Why the Rangers Should Wait to Extend Artemi Panarin”