The New York Rangers had a difficult first month of the 2025-26 season, and the primary reason has been the team’s inability to consistently put the puck in the net. They rank last in the NHL in goals scored per game with just 2.21, and a notable reason for their struggles has been the performance of star winger Artemi Panarin. Panarin is usually the Rangers’ offensive engine, but he has just seven points in 14 games this season, with four of them coming in a single game. The Athletic’s Vince Z. Mercogliano reported on Panarin’s struggles in more detail, with Panarin telling the reporter his struggles have “really kind of snowballed.” He said “I missed training camp, had a couple (injury) issues. I wasn’t feeling right from a conditioning standpoint in the first couple games. I started getting frustrated right away, and then it kind of goes into the contract and all that stuff in my head.”
As Panarin himself noted, his contract status as a pending unrestricted free agent looms large over his 2025-26 season. Mercogliano reported that “there have been brief negotiations” between Panarin’s camp, led by Paul Theofanous, and the Rangers, but that those talks have “stalled” lately. It’s been reported previously that the Rangers are “in no rush” to make a commitment to Panarin, who at 34 years old is staring down the possibility that this could be the last big contract of his NHL career. In order for him to maximize that deal, he’ll need to step up his production. Panarin ended the 2023-24 season with 120 points, so he’s shown recently that he can be among the top scorers in the NHL. For him to position himself best for his next contract, he’ll need to find a way to rediscover that form.
Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:
- The Carolina Hurricanes announced today that defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere has been placed on injured reserve, and that the IR placement is retroactive to Oct. 28. Gostisbehere was injured in the team’s Oct. 28 game against the Vegas Golden Knights, and hasn’t played since. The veteran was off to a strong start to the season before his injury, scoring seven points in six games. There remains no firm timeline for Gostisbehere to return, and without Gostisbehere to run the team’s top power-play unit, the team has had to rely on veteran Sean Walker, who has five points through 13 games.
- New Jersey Devils star blueliner Dougie Hamilton left last night’s victory over the Montreal Canadiens with an injury, and no further update on Hamilton’s status was provided. Today, Devils team reporter Amanda Stein relayed word from head coach Sheldon Keefe that Hamilton remains under evaluation today, and there is at this point no additional detail on the player’s status. Hamilton is a key contributor to what has been a strong Devils team so far this season. He ranks No. 2 among Devils defensemen in ice time, just behind Luke Hughes, and is tied with Hughes for second on the team in defensive scoring with seven points in 14 games. The 32-year-old is playing out a $9MM AAV contract that runs through the 2027-28 season.
Drury needs to embrace the fact that this team, as currently assembled is foundationally flawed, and not saddle themselves with another NTC by giving Panarin a long term deal at age 35. The organization has been terrible at developing draftees (and I’m not counting Kakko or Laffy, who have done nothing to prove that they were deserving of their lofty draft status, but the Rangers had really no choice but to go with consensus on both those selections) and with the exception of Laba, have kept youngsters in the AHL too long and given roster spots to retreads instead over the last 10 years. If Drury sticks around (let’s hope not), he almost has to move on from Panarin, see if there is any market for Zibanejad at all, and finally move away from the parade of NTMs and embrace a true youth movement, even in NYC. The fans would rather struggle for a few years and see some homegrown stars emerge than sit through this middling crap for the next year or two or five.
Really depends on Dolan. But I agree on the youth movement. I enjoyed watching Cally, Dubi, Stepan, Kreider, Lundqvist and a host of others develop.
Seems like it might be time to move on from Drury, like right now I mean.
Chris Kreider and his 10 goals say hi. ;D
Oops, 9 goals.
I’m sure not having Trocheck has impacted his play as well, but no excuse on the PP, etc. Drury has been a disaster – destroyed what was built by Gorton and Davidson and is killing any prospects currently in the system. Perrault should be up and Othmann needs dedicated time. These has-beens are awful.
The Rangers were destroyed by awful drafting before Drury.