Rangers miss playoffs for 2nd straight season, home losses among factors

The New York Rangers failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second consecutive season since reaching the Eastern Conference Final in 2024.

The Rangers (28-35-9) were eliminated from contention when they lost 4-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.

New York reached the postseason in 15 of the previous 20 seasons, including getting to the Stanley Cup Final in 2014 and going as far as the conference final in 2012, 2015, 2022 and 2024. But this is now two straight seasons without playoff hockey at Madison Square Garden.

Here's a look at what happened in the 2025-26 season for the Rangers and why things could be better next season.

The skinny

Potential unrestricted free agents: Jonny Brodzinski, F; Conor Sheary, F; Connor Mackey, D; Jonathan Quick, G

Potential restricted free agents: Braden Schneider, D; Vincent Iorio, D; Dylan Garand, G

Potential 2026 Draft picks: 11

What went wrong

Home-ice disadvantage: The Rangers started slow at home and really never picked up the pace. They are 9-18-7 at Madison Square Garden with their next seven games at home. Their nine home wins are the second fewest in the League after the Vancouver Canucks (eight). Their struggles at home caused them headaches and created headlines in the first month of the season. They were shut out in their first three and five of their first seven home games, going 0-6-1 at the Garden before finally ending the slide with a 6-3 win against the Nashville Predators on Nov. 10. They won only five of their next 17 home games (5-9-3) before the Olympic break. They have won three of nine since (3-3-3), a slight improvement that came too late.

Injuries: The Rangers' season didn't completely go down the wrong path until they lost Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin at the same time. Fox, New York's top defenseman, and Shesterkin, its No. 1 goalie, missed 13 straight games from Jan. 8-Feb. 5 and the Rangers went 2-11-0 without them, allowing 4.62 goals per game. Fox also missed 14 games from Dec. 2-29. Though the Rangers survived, going 6-5-3, their power play was 15.4 percent without him. Forward J.T. Miller, New York's captain, has also missed 14 games with injuries, including seven straight from Dec. 21-Jan. 5, a 2-3-2 stretch for the Rangers.

The letter: On Jan. 16, two days after an 8-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators, the Rangers' eighth in nine games (1-6-2), general manager and president Chris Drury released a letter to the fans saying the team was going to start a roster retool and would be saying goodbye to popular players. At the same time, it became public that Drury told forward Artemi Panarin, the Rangers' leading scorer, that the team was not going to re-sign him and instead would work with him to find a new team via trade. The Rangers were 20-22-6 at the time, last in the Eastern Conference and 10 points out of a playoff spot. They lost seven of nine (2-7-0) after the letter came out leading into the Olympic break. They scratched Panarin for roster management purposes Jan. 28 and traded him to the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 4.

Reasons for optimism

They have the goalie: Shesterkin is in his prime and in the first season of an eight-year contract (average annual value of $11.5 million). If you're looking for a bright spot to the season, he continues to be it. Shesterkin, without much support, still has a 2.59 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in 45 games. Among the 39 goalies who have played at least 30 games, he is tied for 12th in GAA and tied for seventh in save percentage. He continues to be the Rangers' best player, and they've got him locked up for seven more seasons.

Promising Perreault: Gabe Perreault has come on strong in March, giving the rookie forward a lot to build on going into next season. Perreault has at least one point in seven of his past 10 games (two goals, eight assists) and 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 13 games this month, leading all rookies in assists and tied with St. Louis Blues forward Jimmy Snuggerud for the most points among first-year players in March. Perreault has played regularly on the top line with Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere, and he's looking more and more comfortable with each game. He had only eight points (three goals, five assists) in 26 games before the calendar turned to March.

Last Laf: Lafreniere finally started getting regular ice time on the power play after the Rangers traded Panarin and, wouldn't you know, all of a sudden his production started to climb. If it's as simple as that, the Rangers should feel good about the 24-year-old forward who is in the first season of a seven-year contract ($7.45 million AAV). Lafreniere leads the Rangers with 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) in 19 games since Jan. 28, when Panarin was a healthy scratch for the first of three straight games. He had 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 53 games with Panarin in the lineup. Lafreniere's 11 goals since Jan. 28 are tied with Zibanejad for the team lead. He has five power-play goals in the 19 games, giving him seven this season that match his total from the previous three. He also has four three-point games in that stretch.