NY Rangers Receive Disappointing Outlook in NHL Power Rankings

Where did the New York Rangers land in a recent NHL power rankings?

Apr 11, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (31) skates back on the ice during the second period against the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

With the Stanley Cup Playoffs nearing their conclusion soon, all of the teams in the NHL will be seeking to be where the Carolina Hurricanes and Las Vegas Golden Knights are this year. For some, that will be a more challenging task than others. 

The New York Rangers will be one of the teams hoping to make a massive improvement this summer. Coming off a last-place finish in the Eastern Conference, there is clearly quite a bit of work to do for the Rangers. 

When looking at the roster, they do have some good things in place, but adding at least one more scorer for their top six is going to be a need. Putting the puck in the back of the net was a struggle at times for New York, and getting a player who could score 30 goals a season would be a big boost. 

However, while that might be the desire to make a splash, being able to accomplish it will be a challenge. The Rangers do have a lot of cap space to bring in talent, but finding it will be hard. As of now, the team has a lot of work to do if they want to get closer to being a contender. Unfortunately, they still might be one of the worst teams in the league. 

Lyle Fitzsimmons of Bleacher Report recently power-ranked all of the teams not in the Stanley Cup Final. For the Rangers, their rating was not as strong as expected. 

New York Has Work To Do

New York Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury / The Journal News-Imagn Images

With the Rangers coming in ranked 26th, there is clearly a lot of work that the franchise has to do. New York was only ahead of the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Seattle Kraken, and Chicago Blackhawks. 

This is certainly not a great company to be in, and the Rangers are a team that has stated they aren’t rebuilding like some of those other teams are. How New York attacks this offseason will be one of the more interesting to watch around the league. The case can certainly be made that they shouldn’t overspend on a veteran free agent this summer and that continuing to try to add young talent would be the preferred path. 

However, if they go down that path, that certainly feels more like the team is rebuilding than retooling. Expectations are high for them this year, and if they don’t have a good summer, they could be one of the worst teams in the league once again.