The New York Rangers figure to be pretty happy when the calendar flips from 2025 to 2026. Not a lot
The New York Rangers figure to be pretty happy when the calendar flips from 2025 to 2026.
Not a lot went right for them in 2025. They came up short of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2024-25, becoming just the fourth team to go from a Presidents’ Trophy winner one year to a non-playoff team in the next. They were 23-19-6 from Jan. 1 to the end of last season and are 19-17-5 through 41 games in the one under new coach Mike Sullivan.
The good news is that their 43 points through 41 games are just two shy of the two wild-card berths in the Eastern Conference. However, their .524 points percentage after a 3-2 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday is dead last among the East’s 16 teams.
But on Thursday, the Rangers begin a new year – and hopefully a better one.
Key dates on Rangers schedule in 2026:
Jan. 2: Winter Classic vs. Florida Panthers at Miami
Shesty’s Winter Classic set up 🔥 pic.twitter.com/yYPJcNJEzn
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 28, 2025
The Rangers are the most successful outdoor team in NHL history, and they’ll try to make it six wins in as many tries when they take the ice against the Florida Panthers at loanDepot Park in Miami on Friday night.
It’s their first Winter Classic appearance since the Rangers defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 on J.T. Miller’s overtime goal at Citi Field on Jan. 1, 2018. That game came six years after a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in their outdoor debut at the Winter Classic on Jan. 2, 2012 – a game most memorable for Henrik Lundqvist’s last-minute save on Danny Briere’s penalty shot. They’re also 3-0 in Stadium Series games, with the most recent win coming on Feb. 19, 2024, when the Rangers rallied past the New York Islanders for a thrilling 6-5 victory at MetLife Stadium.
This is the first outdoor game ever played in Florida, and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers figure to be ready to make a statement. They entered the week holding the second wild card in the Eastern Conference despite being without their two best forwards, Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, all season.
Jan. 28-29: Back-to-back vs. New York Islanders
The Rangers and Islanders finish their season series with a home-and-home set, beginning at UBS Arena on the last Wednesday in January and moving to Madison Square Garden the following night. It’s the first time the Metropolitan-area foes face off on consecutive nights since Dec. 16-17, 2009 – the teams split those games, with the road team winning each time.
The Isles are one of the League’s first-half surprises, and they’ve exacted a bit of revenge for the Blueshirts’ season-series sweep in 2024-25 by shutting out the Rangers in each of their first two meetings this season – including a 2-0 win on Long Island last Saturday.
They’re also one of the teams the Rangers must contend with for a playoff spot in the tight Eastern Conference race. So, these are two very important games.
Feb. 5: Last game before Olympic break vs. Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes are pulling away from the pack in the Metropolitan Division, and they won 3-0 on Nov. 4 in their first visit to Madison Square Garden this season. The finale of the four-game season series against the ’Canes is also the Rangers last game before the NHL takes a three-week break to allow its players to compete in the Milan/Cortina Olympics. It’s the first time since 2014 that NHL players are competing in the Winter Games.
For the vast majority of players and coaches, it’s a much-welcomed break after a jam-packed schedule. That group won’t include Rangers coach Mike Sullivan, who’s doubling as coach of Team USA. But first he must keep the Rangers focused on the task at hand – they need every win they can get.
Feb. 26: Season resumes when Philadelphia Flyers visit Rangers
Sullivan and his players return to the Garden ice after the Olympic break to host the Flyers in the first of four straight home games. The Flyers are another surprise; they’ve held a playoff spot for most of the season as they try to return to the postseason for the first time since 2020.
The Rangers had one of their most memorable wins of the season in the Flyers’ previous visit to the Garden on Dec. 20. They overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period and won 5-4 in a shootout. They’d better be ready from the get-go since this begins the sprint to season’s end.
March 6: NHL Trade Deadline
Buyers or sellers? That’s the question general manager Chris Drury faces after seeing his team play four home games following the Olympic break.
With two first-round picks in the 2026 NHL Draft and about $3 million in estimated cap space at the deadline, according to Puckpedia, Drury can go shopping if he feels it will help get the Rangers back to the postseason. Then there’s the opposite approach – he could sell off some veterans in search of younger talent.
The elephant in the room is what to do about 34-year-old forward Artemi Panarin, who can become an unrestricted free agent after the season, would be the biggest name on the market if that happens – and has a no-movement clause that let’s him decide if and where he wants to be traded. Will the roster that faced the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 4 look different from the one that steps on the ice to face the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on March 6?
April 8: Home finale vs. Buffalo Sabres
The finale of a seven-game homestand is also the last regular-season game at MSG; whether there’s any more hockey at the Garden until the fall depends on whether the Rangers pick up their play in 2026.
By then, it’s safe to say the Sabres will have lost another game. They’re ending 2025 as the League’s hottest team after extending their winning streak to nine games with a 4-2 road win against the St. Louis Blues on Monday. The Sabres are trying end an NHL-record 14-season non-playoff streak.
April 15: Season ends with visit to Tampa Bay Lightning
The schedule-maker didn’t do the Rangers any favors in the final few days of the season. After their seven-game homestand, the Blueshirts finish the season with a nasty three-game trip that starts in Dallas on April 11, continues in Florida two nights later and concludes with a season-ending stop in Tampa Bay on Income Tax Day.
The Lightning got off to a slow start but enter the new year all but assured of making the playoffs for the ninth straight season. The Rangers did the almost-unthinkable in their last visit to Tampa on Nov. 12, forcing goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to the bench after the two-time Stanley Cup champion allowed five goals in two periods of a 7-3 rout.
Will this be the last game for the Rangers until early October? They certainly hope not.
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