Yesterday was 2026 Rangers breakup day, and some interesting tidbits came out from the players, coaching staff, and beat writers as the Blueshirts wrapped things up and prepared for what should be an active offseason. Brandon nailed it yesterday, that there is some hope for the Rangers as they head into the offseason, and the Rangers breakup day quotes actually helped build more confidence. Chris Drury is still the ultimate wild card, but there are some solid pieces in place right now.
I appreciate everyone’s patience with the delay on getting these thoughts out. I had knee surgery yesterday and was recovering for most of the day. I feel fine, surgery went well. Just need to stay off my feet for a few days. Thank you all for the kind words in the comments yesterday. Also Live From the Blue Seats will record later today, either JL solo or with me joining him, depends how I feel. That will release later today.
1. The most interesting development from 2026 Rangers breakup day was Vincent Trocheck’s lung infection. He said viral bacterial infection, but that’s not a thing (viral and bacterial are two different things). I’m guessing he just misphrased it. Probably had a viral lung issue that got infected, thus the surgery. That’s wildly dangerous and I’m glad he’s ok and healing.
That said, trading Trocheck is probably in the Rangers best interest. Given the lack of free agents, I think Drury’s gamble in holding onto him will pay off. But I also think the draft lottery will impact his approach to trading him. If they can land Stenberg or McKenna, there may be more value in “immediate futures” like a first round pick and/or a kid who has a high ceiling but needs another year or two. We shall see.
2. I am again willing to give JT Miller a pass on this season given his mental health struggles. I feel that to be fair, his 2025-2026 season should be treated the same as Mika Zibanejad’s 2024-2025 season. The best case scenario is Miller returns to his point per game pace production and drives 2L and becomes more consistent on PP1. The most likely scenario is he returns to more of a 70 point pace, which is still find for $8 million a season. Father Time comes for everyone, and Miller is 33 years old.
My preference is Miller drives 2L as the center, hopefully with one of the top two picks on his wing. But I’d prefer to keep him on PP2 and give the Blueshirts a more balanced approach with the man advantage. Let Gabe Perreault stick on PP1 with ZIbanejad and Alexis Lafreniere.
3. Some noise was made when Chris Drury, via Zoom–which is at least better than Teams–of all things, said regarding Braden Schneider.
Certainly one of the more interesting quotes on 2026 Rangers breakup day, but there was nothing to see here. Drury wasn’t going to say he’s trading Schneider, because of course he won’t say that. He made that mistake twice already (the memo, Panarin), and hopefully he doesn’t do that again.
He’s also not going to say anything negative about him because it’s ammo for his agent in negotiations. It’s still no guarantee the Rangers trade Schneider, and there are already rumblings that Will Borgen could be on the move. I’d personally trade both and revamp right defense, but that depends on trade return.
My guess is that Schneider would be included in a blockbuster trade for top of the lineup forward like Jason Robertson or, dare I say, Auston Matthews. I think the Rangers defense needs big upgrades on the right side. A lot more than the left side now that Mathew Robertson has emerged and Drew Fortescue is looking good. Plus don’t sleep on Jackson Dorrington.
4. More on Drury not saying what fans wanted to hear on 2026 Rangers breakup day: He wasn’t handing Dylan Garand the backup spot next season. He wasn’t going out and handing Jaro Chmelar and Adam Sykora guaranteed spots next season either. This is how it should be done. Remember we all handed Brett Berard a spot last offseason and look how that turned out. Berard took a step back and got passed by several kids. Maybe Berard takes a big leap forward, maybe other kids regress. Maybe some are traded. You never know.
As for Garand, he’s likely going to be the backup but you can’t just hand him the role. I’d assume Callum Tung and Spencer Martin split the Hartford starts next year.
4. Matt Rempe and Adam Edstrom played through thumb and ankle injuries, respectively. I will never understand why teams insist on letting players do this, especially bottom of the lineup guys who had clearly become ineffective in their roles while managing their injuries. I like both kids, but they are quickly getting passed on the depth chart and becoming afterthoughts in roster planning. Edstrom would be an interesting trade chip, but I can see a fan revolt if Rempe is traded.
5. Adam Fox was still non-committal about his Rangers future, but it did seem like he is going to be with the Rangers through his contract and won’t be requesting a trade. Mike Sullivan did specifically state they need more puck movers on the blue line, which is a big need for this club. If they stick at the third overall, I’d suspect they take Chase Reid which would be a big boost in that category. As would an improving Scott Morrow.
If the Rangers go into next season with Gavrikov-Fox and some combination of Robertson, Fortescue, Reid, and Morrow, then they will have their puck movers, mobility, and speed on the blue line. It’ll have a ton of growing pains though.
6. While 2026 Rangers breakup day wasn’t as animated as some seasons past with coach mutinies and a sense of dread, there were still some interesting tidbits. I expect we will get more injury news at some point, perhaps some understanding of what JT Miller did to himself to start the season. There’s still room for optimism. If the Rangers win the lottery, that optimism should explode too.
Imagine, for a second, where three of the Rangers top four wingers are Lafreniere, Perreault, and one of McKenna or Stenberg. Fun thought, right?