This Key Area Should Be a Need for NY Rangers To Improve This Offseason

What area do the New York Rangers need to improve in order to get better next year?

May 8, 2025; Tarrytown, NY, USA; New York Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury speaks during a press conference to introduce new head coach Mike Sullivan at the MSG Training Center in Tarrytown, New York May 8, 2025. / The Journal News-Imagn Images

The New York Rangers’ offseason has already begun after a really disappointing campaign in the 2025-26 season. 

Despite having some expectations coming into the year, the Rangers fell well short of their goals this season. New York made some moves during the offseason that indicated they might have been doing a retooling, but the results were not good. 

While injuries played a factor, New York finished in last place in the Eastern Conference, and the campaign was a mess for the most part. One of the main reasons for the struggles was their inability to put the puck in the back of the net. The Rangers got off to a terrible start to the year offensively, and while they did get a bit better down the stretch, this is an area that needs to improve. 

If New York is going to compete with some of the best of the best in the Eastern Conference, they will need some help in their Top 6 to compete. 

Top 6 Forward is a Need

New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Even if Chris Drury and Mike Sullivan didn’t highlight adding a Top 6 forward as a need, it certainly appears to be one for the team. While some of the young talent can continue to improve and work their way up the depth chart, New York is a team that is expecting to compete for a playoff spot this coming year. 

During the season, the team elected to trade away Artemi Panarin, creating a void in the Top 6. Furthermore, now that the team is also likely exploring potentially trading Vincent Trocheck, they could be losing another productive forward up front. 

The message from the Rangers’ brass was certainly a surprising one that they wanted to improve the Bottom 6. New York has a lot of young depth for that area, and while they could seek upgrades, adding more help to the Top 6 makes more sense. 

However, with options in free agency being limited and the trade market potentially being the avenue in which they try to make upgrades, nothing is for certain. Perhaps the team is trying to keep expectations down this summer, but adding another scorer certainly seems like a need based on the overall season for the Rangers. 

With a lot of cap space and some nice draft capital, it will be interesting to see what moves New York tries to make. However, even though it might not be the goal of the franchise publicly, improving the Top 6 makes a lot of sense.