October 27, 2025 | 12:26pm ET
TheFourthPeriod.com

QUESTIONS GALORE IN NEW YORK

Artemi Panarin, forward

The New York Rangers currently sit last in the Eastern Conference with a 3-5-2 record and after spending the off-season making changes to the backend and behind the bench, expectations were a lot higher for this club going into the 2025-26 campaign.

With Mike Sullivan in as Head Coach, the Rangers kept the bulk of their forward corps together, moved out young blueliner K’Andre Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes in July, and signed Vladislav Gavrikov to a seven-year, $49 million contract.

Rangers GM Chris Drury has very little salary cap space to play with if he wants to rejig his roster, unless he moves money out, and frustration is starting to mount inside the dressing room.

“You just can’t be OK with coming out flat,” Rangers captain J.T. Miller told the New York Post after Sunday’s 5-1 loss to Calgary. “We’re in no position to come out flat. Be in the right mindset. We’re ready to go. We got outplayed again in the first period. It kind of set the tone. Thought we had a good second period. Couple mistakes hurt us. But other than that, we had a good second period, a good third. We’re obviously not getting a ton of bounces offensively, which is more of a reason.

“There’s no excuses to come up flat. It sucks. This is not fun right now. We need to correct the starts. I think it’s becoming like the trend now, so we need to fix this now on this trip. I mean, it’s a hard road trip, so we got to be ready to go to start the game.”

Young stars Alexis Lafreniere and Will Cuylle have struggled out of the gate this season, which has most certainly affected the Rangers in a negative light.

If the Rangers are unable to right the ship over the next month or so, questions – ones that are beginning to pile up – will be much louder by U.S. Thanksgiving.

The first and most prominent question revolves around the future of star Artemi Panarin.

Panarin, who turns 34 on Thursday, is in the final season of a seven-year, $81.5 million contract and is currently eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Drury must decide whether he wants to try and re-sign the star forward or trade him if the Rangers continue to falter this season.

Panarin’s name has started to circulate around the rumour mill, with teams like the Minnesota Wild already linked to potentially having interest, but he owns a full no-movement clause and will have a say in where he ends up, if dealt.

Lafreniere’s name has also popped up in trade speculation, dating back to last season, but moving him would result in a seismic shift in the Metropolitan Division and it’s unclear if the Rangers are interested in exploring another blockbuster move.

Blueliner Braden Schneider has also seen his name tossed around in trade gossip, as teams have inquired about his availability. Drury has been reluctant to explore a move in the past, but with the 24-year-old eligible to become a restricted free agent next July, with arbitration rights, could the Rangers consider a move this season?

“You’re fishing for pucks, there’s a lot of talented people in this league, so I just think we’ve got to do a better job at that attention to detail right from the drop of the puck,” Sullivan told The Post.