The New York Rangers’ woeful NHL 2025-2026 start

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 27/10/2025

The New York Rangers are off to a miserable start. They find themselves in last place in the Metropolitan Division with a 3-5-2 record.

Much more was expected as the season got underway. The Rangers replaced moribund head coach Peter Laviolette with Mike Sullivan as summer got underway, and the new head coach was supposed to breathe life into a team that failed to make the playoffs last year.

The team has been abominable at home, having lost all five of its games at Madison Square Garden, including four in regulation. Rangers fans saw the team shut out in their first three home games, a nearly unprecedented development.

It’s already time for the team to make moves to improve the product.

The Rangers promoted 2021 first-round draft choice Brennan Othmann from their Hartford AHL team with the hope that he would either give the offense a boost or show enough talent and skill that he would be sought in a trade by another team.

The 22-year-old right wing made his debut in Sunday night’s 5-1 road loss to the lowly Calgary Flames. He played slightly more than 12 minutes, delivered two hits and earned a minus-1 rating.

It’s safe to say that Othmann has not overwhelmed the organization to this point. He made his debut in the 2023-24 season and played three games with the varsity before he was sent down to Hartford. He scored 21 goals and 28 assists in 67 games but his all-around play clearly needed work as he had a minus-24 rating.

He was given a longer trial with the Rangers last season as he was in the lineup for 22 games. Othmann delivered two assists but could not put the puck in the net. He also played 27 games in Hartford and he delivered 12 goals and 8 assists in 27 games and his all-around game improved. His minus-1 rating was clearly quite a bit better than it was the year before.

Othmann is currently slotted on the team’s third line with center Noah Laba and left wing Will Cuylle. Sullivan is hoping that the speedy Othmann will demonstrate the requisite hustle and corner play to deliver a few well-timed goals and help out the team’s sleepy offense.

“Otter and I have had a number of conversations since before training camp started to where we are right now and what the expectations are and how we think he could potentially carve a role on this team,” Sullivan said, per the New York Post. “I think he has an offensive side to him. I think that his opportunity is just in his attention to detail with respect to play away from the puck and just reliability and knowing your job and doing your job.”

Othmann has his working orders from Sullivan. It’s now up to him to show that he was worthy of the No. 16 overall slot in the draft and start producing for the Blueshirts on a consistent basis.

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

In my seven years of esports writing, I've introuduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I'm most proud of the latter.

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