One Position Battle That Will Determine Opening Night Lineup for NY Rangers

Which position will be a battle during training camp for the New York Rangers?

Apr 5, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan speaks to reporters after an 8-1 win against the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Following a busy summer, the New York Rangers are getting set for the start of training camp soon. As camp gets going, there will be a major question for the team to answer. 

Coming off a really bad 2025-26 campaign, the Rangers are hoping to be a much-improved team following an offseason in which they made a ton of moves. New York was expected to be aggressive this summer, and that was certainly the case. 

With the worst record in the Eastern Conference, there were plenty of needs for the team to address, and the Rangers seemingly did a really good job of it. While another forward for the top nine might have made sense, Chris Drury deserves credit for a good summer. 

One area that was seemingly a focus was improving the depth of the team. The Rangers struggled when injuries hit last year, and the hope will be that added depth this summer will help them survive that. However, with the depth improving, that will create some interesting roster battles in camp. 

Final Defenseman Position Will Be Interesting Camp Battle

Jun 26, 2026; Buffalo, New York, USA; Alberts Smits reacts beside NHL commissioner Gary Bettman after being selected with the fifth pick in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft by the New York Rangers at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With a focus on improving the defense this summer, the Rangers have all of a sudden seemingly made the unit a major strength for the team. The first pair was set for New York with Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov. This duo was good for the Rangers last year, but Fox missing a lot of time made a major impact on the team. 

During the summer, the team was able to completely revamp the second pair with Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson coming in via trades. Durzi was part of the package that sent Vincent Trocheck to the Utah Mammoth, and Pettersson was acquired for a 2030 first-round pick. 

Getting these two players will improve the second pair quite a bit and also moves Braden Schneider to the third pair. Even though the 24-year-old was a popular name this summer as someone who might be traded. However, the restricted free agent didn’t get dealt and will be the likely sure thing for the team on the right side of the third pair. However, who will be playing alongside him will be a major question. 

With the addition of Alberts Smits as the fifth overall pick, he very well could make this potential competition a moot point if he’s ready to play right away, as some have expected. However, if he’s not, there is no shortage of options who are just left-handed players. 

Matthew Robertson might be the most logical choice if it's not Smits on Opening Night. Furthermore, Urho Vaakanainen is a bit older than Robertson and provides additional depth. 

Overall, it will likely all come down to whether or not Smits is ready to go. If he is, the Rangers should certainly let him be the sixth defenseman on Opening Night.