While 2025-26 hasn’t been the best for the New York Rangers, there have been some good things to take away from their first 24 games. Here, we’ll look at three things the Rangers should be thankful for so far this season.
Thankful for the Play of Vladislav Gavrikov
One of, if not the biggest, positives for the Rangers this season has been Vladislav Gavrikov‘s play. He was signed as a free agent over the offseason and was brought in to be Adam Fox’s new defensive partner. So far, this pairing has gotten off to an amazing start and has been the top pair the Rangers have been lacking for the last number of years. His defensive play has been as advertised — he has one of the best defensive sticks in the NHL and he is not afraid to block shots and get physical when he needs to be.
Over the past few games, Gavrikov’s offensive game has come to the forefront. He has three goals and 10 points in 24 games, with one goal and four points in the last two games. He’s not known for providing offense, but he has been a key producer over the last few games. Adding that to his already stellar defensive game and he should be seen as the best free-agent signing of this past offseason.
Thankful for a Weak Eastern Conference
As of this writing, the Rangers have a 11-11-2 record. That’s 24 points, which has them sitting last in the Metropolitan Division and third last in the Eastern Conference. While this might seem really bad, if you look at the overall standings in the East, the Rangers are not far off from being in a playoff spot or even at the top of their division. They are only two points out of a wild-card spot, four points back of a divisional spot, and six points back of the Carolina Hurricanes for first in the Metro.
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The Eastern Conference has been very weak this season, and that is a good thing for this Rangers team that hasn’t gotten it together. One good winning streak could see them rise quickly in these standings, and they could be back in a playoff spot by next week. People usually say that American Thanksgiving is the point at which teams that currently hold a playoff spot are the ones that make it come April. However, with all these teams being so close together in the standings, that sentiment should be thrown out, and the Rangers should be thankful for that.
Thankful for Amazing Goaltending
Once again, the Rangers should be thankful for the amazing goaltending they have gotten. While Igor Shesterkin’s numbers might not look like those you want to see from an $11.5 million goalie, he’s still been very good. He has a record of 8-8-2 with a 2.50 goals against average (GAA) and a .909 save percentage (SV%). A team like the Edmonton Oilers would kill to have a goalie put up these kinds of numbers, but another Rangers goalie has put up even better ones (albeit in fewer games played).
Jonathan Quick, who will turn 40 years old in January, is having an amazing third season with the Rangers and holds a 3-3-0 record with a 1.69 GAA and .944 SV%. He has only allowed 10 goals this season and has been a key factor in keeping the Rangers in many of these one-goal games. While he has been good over the past two seasons, nobody expected him to play this well at this stage of his career. He has been an amazing contributor, and they should be thankful that he can still play at this high a level.
The Rangers have been an up-and-down team thus far. While there have been a lot of negatives surrounding the team, there have also been some good things to take away from their first 24 games. These are just three of the things the Rangers should be thankful for at this point of the campaign.
