When the New York Rangers hired Mike Sullivan to be their head coach, it was going to be the quick turnaround the city was looking for from their hockey team. They still needed to change some things, but with Igor Shesterkin in net, Adam Fox on the blueline, and Artemi Panarin up front, the Rangers had stars at every level. They could have easily made the move into contention in a competitive Metropolitan Division.
Well, that didn’t work out. In true Rangers fashion, they sent a letter to their fans saying that they were going to be sellers this season. They claim it’s a retool, but it feels like a lot more than that.
A Message from Chris Drury to Our Fans pic.twitter.com/JVimBJ59B7
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 16, 2026
It’s January 16th at the time of the letter posting, and we’re still more than a month away from the first Devils-Rangers game of the season. The NHL inexplicably waited until March to have the Hudson River Rivalry hit the schedule. It was an insane decision. Even if we’re using AI to create the schedule, we need a human to use common sense to avoid issues like this.
Both the Rangers and Devils are struggling this season, and it was likely one or the other was going to be “out” of it, if not both. The Metropolitan Division is strange, which is going to keep teams in it until the end, but it sounds like the Rangers are taking a different approach.
And now those March matchups aren’t going to mean much. There isn’t going to be vitriol because the Rangers are just trying to get to the summer. There’s not going to be anything but pride on the line in this game.
This has been one of the best rivalries in the NHL, and now it’s going to lose some of its luster. Nobody is going to care when Matt Rempe is head-hunting because it’s going to be on a lottery team.
The last time the Rangers sent a letter, it did lead to the first Rangers-Devils trade ever. That’s when the Devils got Michael Grabner for Yegor Rykov and a second-round pick. Will there be another Devils-Rangers trade? Would they target one of their stars like Mika Zibanejad or Adam Fox? Would the Rangers be willing to go there with a new regime?
Well, this new regime sent the same letter, so, maybe. For now, the Devils need to get back into playoff contention, as they currently sit four points out of the final Wild Card spot. They are as close to the Rangers (who are eight points out) than the playoffs.