What are the expectations for the New York area teams in the 2026-27 NHL season?
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What are the expectations for the New York area teams in the 2026-27 NHL season? originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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The natural rivalry between the NHL’s three New York City-area teams – the New York Rangers, New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils – means that, every year, the trio of teams will be partially judged against each other. And this summer, the Isles, Devils and Rangers are going to be in significantly different places as they prepare for the 2026-27 season.
The Devils have had the highest expectations of the three New York-area teams – and in the past three years, New Jersey has consistently failed to meet those expectations, missing the playoffs in two of the past three years while winning just a single playoff game in the one year the Devils did make the playoffs.
New Jersey’s struggles ultimately cost GM Tom Fitzgerald his job, as former Florida Panthers assistant GM Sunny Mehta replaced him. But there have been rumors that the Devils are interested in trading goalie Jacob Markstrom and may be looking to acquire Winnipeg Jets superstar goalie Connor Hellebuyck or Panthers star goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
Acquiring either of those goalies would drastically ratchet up expectations for the Devils this coming year, and the ripple effect that type of move would create would sweep across the rest of the league and the goalie market in particular.
MORE: Trading Jacob Markstrom Would Allow Devils To Chase Connor Hellebuyck, Sergei Bobrovsky
Meanwhile, the Islanders are also at a crossroads of sorts this summer. They’re going to have their first full year under coach Peter DeBoer, but that doesn’t assure the Isles of any success, either in getting back into the playoffs, or in the post-season itself.
The Isles should be embarking on a longer build around star defenseman and rookie-of-the-year Matthew Schaefer, but they also have several veterans, including star goalie Ilya Sorokin and forwards Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat. So is this the summer when Islanders GM Mathieu Darche moves in either the direction of a retool-on-the-fly, or will they be moving in the direction of a fuller rebuild? The answer will be fascinating.
MORE: 3 potential NHL trade destinations for Islanders' Mathew Barzal
Finally, there’s the Rangers – a team that has thus far made no changes despite finishing in 30th place in the league in 2025-26. Blueshirts GM Chris Drury is on record as saying the Rangers won’t be rebuilding, so a retool is what we should expect from them this off-season. But that’s still a nebulous concept, and one that raises a slew of questions.
To wit: it feels like center Vincent Trocheck is a fait accompli to be dealt, but where do the notable changes end in Manhattan? Will star defenseman Adam Fox be traded for prospects and draft picks? What about star forward Mika Zibanejad? And what will Drury do with the $26.5 million in salary cap space he has right now?
This Rangers team needs an infusion of above-average youth if they’re going to regularly be a playoff team again, but they may need another step-back season before they acquire the picks and prospects they need to rise through the standings.
MORE: 2026 NHL draft: 5 best options for the Rangers at fifth overall
So it should be clear why the New York-area teams are so compelling to watch this summer. The Devils, Rangers and Islanders are all at different points in their respective competitive cycles. Still, they will all be facing pressure of one kind or another to have a productive year this coming season.
And no matter what happens, the Rangers, Isles and Devils are going to stay in the spotlight. Thus, don’t be shocked when fireworks erupt in the greater-New-York area. When you have millions of hockey fans crammed into the same patch of land, you’re going to have a particular kind of pressure that’s different in other markets. And that means New Jersey, the Rangers, and Islanders all will be under the gun to deliver better results than they did last year.
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