Rangers Rebuild: Fox & Shesterkin's Foundation

0:00On April 27, the New York Rangers just wrapped up a brutal 2025-26 season finishing dead last in the Eastern Conference with a 34-39-9 record and only 77 points. They are one of the worst teams, league-wide, tying the Calgary Flames and trailing only Vancouver and Chicago. Now big roster shakeups are coming this off-season to fix the mess. Expectations were low to start, but they still underperformed everywhere, screaming for depth on every line. The one bright spot, their top defensive duel of Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrakov, who form one of the league's best pairs when healthy. Fox's health is the real game changer. He missed a ton of games, but still dropped 53 points in 55 outings, 9 goals and 44. Assists. Without him, though, the blue line collapses. Gavrakov got pushed into the top role and struggled with weaker partners, posting ugly metrics like just.

1:0040.2% expected goals. That duo shined together, ranking third and expected goals for a 58.49% among top pairs and fourth in goals against that. 1.72 per 60 minutes. Pair that with elite goalie Igor Shesterkin and you've got legit foundation stones. Rangers fans can hold on to that optimism heading into rebuild mode. Get Fox healthy, add depth, and they could flip the script quick. That's your NHL news today update, AI powered and always on.