NY Rangers Receive Surprisingly Poor Placement in NHL Power Rankings

Despite a good overall record, the New York Rangers didn't receive a great placement in a recent NHL Power Rankings.

Nov 9, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; The New York Rangers celebrate a goal scored by against forward Jaroslav Chmelar (49) during the second period during the second period against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The New York Rangers are off to a much better start to the season than last year, but not everyone is buying in. 

This offseason, the Rangers were one of the more active teams in trying to improve, and following a couple of bad years, they needed to. New York fell into some tough times after a lot of success, and the famous retool began. 

The Rangers were able to position themselves well with draft capital and cap space in order to improve, and that is what they did. So far, New York is a better team than they were last season, and that is a good thing to see. 

While there have been some ups and downs, the team has a 10-8-1 record, and that is with Igor Shesterkin being out for the season. The ability to win games without their star goalie has highlighted some of the depth that the group has. 

However, despite their improvements, they haven’t received all of the credit that they likely deserve for the start of the season. 

Lyle Fitzsimmons of Bleacher Report recently released the NHL Power Rankings, and the Rangers were surprisingly ranked 20th. 

Poor Ranking for Rangers

Nov 9, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; New York Rangers forward J.T. Miller (10) protects the puck from Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman (18) during the third period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Seeing the Rangers coming in ranked 20th is surprising, but it is a step up from 24th last week. New York did see their three-game winning streak snapped, but they were able to bounce back nicely from their four-game losing streak. 

While they might not have been able to defeat a great Edmonton team with Connor McDavid, they did start out the road trip on a positive note with a win against the Seattle Kraken. 

With two games remaining on the road trip, New York is going to have two winnable games against the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks. Both of these teams have not performed well, and the Rangers have a really strong chance of going 3-1 on this road trip. 

If they were able to pick up six points on the four-game West Coast and Canada road trip, that would be considered a very successful trip. 

Currently, the Rangers are placed third in the Metropolitan Division and, they would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. With that being said, being 20th in the power rankings doesn’t make a ton of sense, and New York should be at least in the middle of the pack.  Perhaps a couple of more wins on the road will help improve their standing for next week, but the Rangers should be higher.