2026 Rangers Report Cards: The Cup of Coffee Crew

This article is part of an ongoing series of Rangers Report Cards, grading the performance of each member of the 2025-26 New York Rangers. To view more report cards in this series, go here.

The New York Rangers had a total of 38 skaters and four goaltenders suit up in games for them throughout the 2025-26 season. Of those 42 names, six of them fall into the Cup of Coffee Crew: forwards Jusin Dowling, Anton Blidh, and Brendan Brisson, defenseman Connor Mackey, and goaltenders Dylan Garand and Spencer Martin.

As we kick off our 2026 Report Cards, lets dive into how the fringe NHL-AHL players performed in their small sample size this year.

Justin Dowling

The undrafted journeyman from Calgary, Alberta, participated in two games for the Rangers this season, with both games coming in early January. It was clear that Dowling's usage for the Rangers was mainly as veteran center depth, as his cup of coffee came while both J.T. Miller and Noah Laba were sidelined with injury. Across those two games, Dowling averaged seven minutes of ice time and didn't do much aside from a -1 and one shot on goal. Dowling was a bit lucky in the sense that one of his two games played this season came on one of hockey's largest stages: the 2026 NHL Winter Classic.

While Dowling didn't have much of an impact on a game dominated by Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin, he did get to partake in one of the Rangers' most memorable wins of the season. Outside of that, he skated in 49 games for the Hartford Wolf Pack, collecting nine goals and 20 assists for a total of 29 points. He's been injured as of late, but all in all, has been about what the Rangers likely expected of him this season: veteran presence for Hartford who can be called up and trusted in a variety of situations, as needed.

Dowling is under contract through next season, so chances are he will continue in a top-six role for the Wolf Pack. But if all goes according to plan, he shouldn't spend any more time with the Rangers moving forward. In a pinch, he's fine to turn to in a fourth line center role, but anything beyond that is a bit of a stretch. Dowling will turn 36 next fall, meaning he could be nearing the end of his run in the NHL, or will be fighting for one more job to take him there.

Despite only appearing in just north of 150 NHL games, Dowling's had a respectable professional career, including winning a Calder Cup with the Texas Stars. In his two games with the Rangers, he was fine, which earns him a C.

Anton Blidh

A similar case to Dowling, Blidh is a player who is completely fine to throw into the mix in a fourth line role, but anything beyond that is asking too much. Blidh was called up for that same window of limbo where the Rangers weren't fully ready to accept that they weren't going to make the playoffs and were still trying to win hockey games. That clearly didn't work out too well, since the Rangers lost all four games Blidh suited up for. However, he did manage to pick up an assist in the Rangers' 3-1 loss to San Jose at the end of January.

Blidh did a good job of working for the puck, getting it into a high danger area which resulted in a rebound for Sam Carrick to put in the back of the net. Without Blidh's efforts, the Rangers would have been shutout eleven times this season instead of ten.

Blidh is coming to the end of the first season of the two-year extension he earned last April. A veteran winger who is regarded as a valued leader in Hartford, Blidh is a fine depth piece or have in the system but similarly to Dowling, should only be used for the Rangers in an in-case-of-emergency situation. In 61 games played with Hartford, Blidh collected eight goals and assists for 16 total points.

His style of play isn't one you typically count on or expect points, from but if he can remain a reliable middle-six winger at the AHL level, he will be making a good honest living with the Wolf Pack for another season. His efforts this season were similar to Dowling's but since he came out of it with a point, we'll give him a C+.

Brendan Brisson

The former first round draft pick acquired in the Reilly Smith trade last year finally made his Rangers debut this season, appearing in a total of three games. During that time, Brisson collected an assist and finished with a -1 rating, which is a fine showing for a small sample size, all things considered. The one assist came on the goal that tied the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins the Rangers ended up winning in a shootout. Brisson moved the puck to the point as Vladislav Gavrikov's shot deflected off of Taylor Raddish in front.

Brisson is another interesting example of something I consider to be a rather significant flaw in the Rangers development system: A player who was drafted as a center, played center during his time in Vegas, and for whatever reason, is being pushed to the wing. And not just in his brief stint in New York, but more recently in Hartford as well.

Without doing a deep dive into every lineup card that the Wolf Pack have submitted this season, Brisson has been playing on the wing more often than not. So much so that the Wolf Pack have turned to utilizing Trey Fix-Wolansky at center instead of him. Credit to Fix-Wolansky who has been a great player for Hartford throughout the season, but you'd think the Rangers would look to play a younger players, who was drafted with higher pedigree, at not only his primary position, but a position of need throughout the organization.

Brisson will turn 25 this fall and is set to be an RFA at the end of this season. At the end of the day, Brisson was a bit of a reclamation project for the Rangers to take in the first place. Even in his draft year, there was some talk about him becoming more of a wing down the road. Perhaps the Rangers view him more as a wing which is where he slotted in and looked perfectly fine in during those three games. However, I'm still curious as to why he hasn't gotten more looks down the middle, specifically at this point in the season with Hartford.

Would have liked to see more of him with the Rangers in this final stretch of the season. But, of course, Conor Sheary needed his minutes. It was a small sample size, but we'll give Brisson a C+ for his first full season with the Rangers organization.

Connor Mackey

Earlier this season, we had some fun and made a soundtrack to the 2025-26 Rangers season. I revisit that here because Elton John's "I'm Still Standing" comes to mind when I think of Connor Mackey.

With each passing year, despite growing older, Mackey's workload with the Rangers seems to increase ever so slightly. In the 2023-24 season, he appeared in one game. In 2024-25, it was two games. And this season, he skated in a total of three games. Normally, he's good for at least one game and a one fight a season. But this year, even Mackey realized this Rangers campaign was not worth fighting for.

Mackey didn't register a point with the Rangers this season, but collected a pair of penalties and was a -3 across those stretch of games. In 59 games with the Wolf Pack, Mackey scores five goals and collected 11 assists for 16 points. I have all the respect in the world for anyone who can carve out an NHL career for themselves. It's the best league in the world, after all, and it's even more impressive to see a guy go undrafted and climb the ranks to play in NHL games. I hope Mackey lands a job after this and can find a way to stick around in the NHL or AHL. I just don't think it needs to be with the Rangers. He gets a D+ this season.

Spencer Martin

Technically, Spencer Martin played in six games this season. But for all intents and purposes, he falls into the Cup of Coffee Crew, seeing as two of those games were in relief, and he was only there as a fill-in.

The Rangers signed Martin in earlier November which, at the time, came as a bit of a surprise. The Rangers had Jonathan Quick behind Igor Shesterkin, Hartford had Dylan Garand as the clear starter, with Hugo Ollas and Collum Tung behind him (as well as Talyn Boyko on loan overseas). Alas, the signing paid off in early January when Igor Shesterkin was placed on LTIR with a lower-body injury.

Shesterkin went on to miss an extended amount of time, giving Quick an increased workload ,and Martin a chance to see some NHL action. Across those six games, Martin registered a 1-3 record with a 4.13 GAA and a .864 save percentage. Martin allowed 20 goals against and made 127 saves in four starts, as well as two games where he came in as relief. Not great numbers by any stretch of the imagination, and you have to wonder how much more valuable would it have been to the organizations long term plans had they given Dylan Garand those games. That's all spilled milk, I suppose, and it seemed to work out for Garand who looked great in his three starts later in the season.

With the Wolf Pack, Martin's numbers weren't much better as he registered a 3.62 GAA and a .871 save percentage with a record of 3-13-3. Now, Hartford is a disaster in its own right, so take only that for what it's worth. But barring any notable free agent signings, Martin will likely be Hartford's starter next season with Garand backing up Shesterkin on the Rangers. There's always a chance the Rangers sign another depth goalie with experience in a similar vein as Spencer Martin, Louis Domingue, or Keith Kinkaid. But it certainly seems the time is now for Garand to finally take those next steps.

As for Martin, he was put in a tough situation, especially in a three month span that involved him moving back from Russia to sign with the Rangers, get acquainted in Hartford, and then be forced into an elevated role at the NHL level. Still, the expectation for a veteran like him is to be able to handle it and those numbers across those six games were not great at all. Martin gets a D+ for his grade.

Dylan Garand

As mentioned, the Rangers rookie netminder only appeared in three games this season, and those starts were long awaited and well deserved. Since being selected in the fourth round in the 2020 draft, Garand has spent four full seasons in the AHL with the Wolf Pack. Throughout those seasons, he was always splitting starting duties. Whether it was with Kinkaid, Domingue, or Martin, it seemed every time he was finally getting the chance to be their clear number one, another depth veteran was coming in to share the crease with him.

The same thing applied to his chance at getting his first NHL start. Every time an injury came up with Quick or Shesterkin it was always the career third stringer getting that call-up ahead of him. As it turned out, his patience paid off and in the long run, it may have been the right call seeing as he seemed 100 percent ready for that first NHL start and has looked great in the limited action he's seen since.

In three starts with the Rangers, Garand's numbers were excellent. Only allowing five goals and making 91 saves in the process, Garand has an NHL record of 2-0-1 with a .948 save percentage and a 1.62 GAA. It's an incredibly small sample size certainly, but you have to think the Rangers have seen enough to believe that he is ready to back up Shesterkin full time next season. His two games earn him an A- for this season.