No Surprise NY Rangers Were Not Happy With Team’s Performance

Fans did not hold back when voicing their displeasure with the New York Rangers.

Apr 17, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers fans at Madison Square Garden. / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The 2025-26 NHL regular season was not a good one for the New York Rangers, who missed the postseason for the second straight year.

They weren’t particularly close to being a playoff contender, either. The Rangers finished in last place in the Eastern Conference with only 77 points. The Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks were the only teams that finished with fewer points.

New York didn’t even reap the benefits of such an underwhelming campaign. They entered the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery with the third-best odds of landing the No. 1 pick, but ended up dropping to the No. 5 selection in a worst-case scenario.

Given how things turned out during the season, it should come as no surprise that Rangers fans are incredibly disappointed. Over at The Athletic, a fan survey was done by Peter Baugh and Vincent Z. Mercogliano (subscription required), and one of the questions asked was how fans would grade this season.

Rangers fans were not happy with team's performance

Jan 2, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; New York Rangers fans cheer after the 2026 Winter Classic ice hockey game against the Florida Panthers at loanDepot Park. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Mercogliano gave New York a D, which a large portion of Rangers fans agreed with. 44.4% of the 2,218 voters also gave the team a grade of D. But, more than half of the fan base was thoroughly disappointed, with 50.5% of the voters giving an “F” grade.

That means nearly 95% of voters gave either a D or an F grade. 4.5% gave a C, with 0.4% giving a B grade and 0.2% inexplicably giving an A. That is certainly a tough one to fathom, given how underwhelming the team’s performance was as a whole.

"I never thought that my love of hockey could be lessened until this past season,” wrote one fan, who is clearly frustrated with his favorite team on the ice.

New York played so poorly that fans are seemingly giving up hope. It is hard to blame people for having such a negative reaction to how the Rangers looked for the majority of the campaign.

As they look to next season, Shesty discusses the importance of using the energy at The Garden to help the team find success

Hear more from the team and Sully during today’s Exit Day availabilities → https://t.co/LDuFD6k386 pic.twitter.com/hWx8bMsM6v

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) April 17, 2026

However, there were some fans who, even with giving a harsh grade, found a positive down the stretch.

"I’ll give them a D because it looked like they were having fun at the end of the season. That could be a good sign, but I’m not holding out hope.”

A lot of that fun can be credited to the younger players who were getting extended opportunities down the stretch. Even with the playoffs out of reach, the team never truly packed it in, giving real effort down the stretch with young players leading the charge.

Gabe Perreault has fans excited, possessing all of the tools to be a top-six forward. He has drawn rave reviews from scouts as a potential point-per-game player and been compared to talented, established players such as Trevor Zegras of the Philadelphia Flyers and Jonathan Huberdeau of the Calgary Flames.