NY Rangers Rightfully Receive Excellent Grade for Improvements This Offseason

The New York Rangers recently received a high mark for their efforts this offseason.

Nov 16, 2025; New York, New York, USA; General view of a flag being waved by New York Rangers staff during the second period against the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden. / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With the offseason continuing for the New York Rangers, the team has been one of the most active this summer, as expected. However, even though the team might not be completely done making additions, it is a good time to reflect on what they have accomplished. 

Coming into the offseason, the Rangers were a team that was hungry to improve. The last-place finish in the Eastern Conference last year was far from ideal, and New York had no shortage of places to upgrade. 

Since the team had stated that they were retooling, how they were going to go about the offseason was always going to be interesting to see. However, they have seemingly done a good job of bringing in some players to help now, while also moving desirable assets for the future. 

Adam Gretz of Bleacher Report recently graded the Rangers’ offseason so far. With the team making a plethora of moves, he gave them the excellent grade of an “A”. 

New York Deserves Strong Grade

NY Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury during a press conference to introduce new head coach Mike Sullivan at the MSG Training Center in Tarrytown, New York May 8, 2025. / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

While it might not have been a perfect offseason for the team, there have been a lot of excellent moves made by Chris Drury and the front office. 

Even though the plan to improve was a little bit concerning to start, the addition of Pavel Dorofeyev on draft night really set the tone. Not having to give up the fifth overall pick and being able to draft Alberts Smits while getting a 37-goal scorer from last season was a major win. 

Furthermore, one of the players that was long rumored to be dealt finally was by New York. The Rangers traded Vincent Trocheck to the Utah Mammoth for a trade package that included Cole Beaudoin and Sean Durzi.

While Beaudoin is a talented prospect who could end up being a really solid middle six forward for the team, Durzi will be expected to be on the right side of the second pair for the defense. 

Another trade that the team made was sending Will Borgen to the Boston Bruins in exchange for a couple of draft picks. With the addition of Durzi, either moving Borgen or Braden Schneider made sense. 

Furthermore, in free agency, they most notably signed Oliver Bjorkstrand to help fill a need in their middle six. Also, they landed Joe Veleno to be the fourth-line center. 

With a desire to improve their puck moving from the blueline on the left side, the team traded for Marcus Pettersson to fill that role. Having Durzi and Pettersson as the second-pair on the blue line makes the team much stronger compared to last year in that area.

Lastly, due to Jonathan Quick retiring, there was a need in the net for the team as well. Despite having Dylan Garand waiting in the wings, the Rangers instead traded for Joonas Korpisalo, which could be seen as one of the more questionable moves for the group. 

Overall, with a plethora of moves made, most have been seen as favorable for the team. Receiving the grade of an “A” so far is certainly fair, and it will be interesting to see if they have one more move left.