2026 Rangers Season Previews: Braden Schneider

This article is part of an ongoing series of New York Rangers Season Previews, taking a close look at what we can, and should, expect from each member of the 2026-27 New York Rangers. To read other articles in this series, go here.

How do you solve a problem like Braden?

For the New York Rangers, the answer to that question begins with a one-year, $5.5 million contract.

If, as you read this piece, you get the sense that I have no idea what to make of Braden Schneider, or what to do with him on the Rangers, that's because I have no idea what to make of Braden Schneider or what the Rangers should do with him. What's worse is that I also suspect the Rangers aren't sure of what to make of Schneider, nor do they know what they want to do with him. Hence, the one-year contract. To quote Philip Seymour Hoffman's Art Howe in Moneyball, "A one-year contract means the same thing to a manager as to a player. There’s not a lot of faith there."

When the one-year deal the Rangers inked him to on July 13 expires, he'll be in his age 25 season and will still be a restricted free agent. When discussing this with Joe and with Chip an various episodes of the podcast, they've posited that having him signed to this one-year deal would make him easier to trade. I'm still not certain that I understand the logic of that position. If a team really wanted him, I don't see how having a one-year deal is obviously preferable to just acquiring his RFA rights where you can then just sign him to whatever kind of contract you want.

But either way, I think Schneider is headed for the door. The Rangers acquisition this offseason of both Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi means that Schneider is ticketed for the third pair and, save for injuries, doesn't have much of a prospect of playing regularly above the third pair, until at least after Durzi's contract expires following the 2027-28 season.

So, what can and should we expect from Braden Schneider this season?

Previous Performance

Since making his debut in the 2021-22 season, Schneider has had 24 different defensive partners, per NaturalStatTrick:

As you can see, the only pair he's ever skated in that had an expected goals for percentage (xGF%) over 50 percent was with Vincent Iorio, with whom he played a whopping 4:56. Interestingly enough, while neither got above 50 percent xGF%, the best two pairings that included Schneider were with Zac Jones and Jacob Trouba. But, of course, neither of them are around anymore.

If we take a look at just last season:

He looked good, and above 50 percent xGF%, with Adam Fox. But Adam Fox has that effect on people. His numbers paired with Vladislav Gavrikov, coming mostly when Fox was hurt, were nightmarish.

The most interesting number in there is the 45.10 percent xGF% he posted with Urho Vaakanainen, who is both still around and with whom there's a decent chance he could find himself paired to start the season. While that number isn't anything much to write home about, it would probably be serviceable enough for a third pair. In an ideal world, you'd certainly want more.

If you look at Hockeystats.com, his best season by projected WAR percentage was in 2024-25:

You'll notice, as well, that in his best season his even strength offense number is higher than his even strength defense number. While the Rangers have seemingly profiled Schneider as a defense-first defenseman—recall, if you will, the Baby Trouba comparisons, and set aside the jokes about how Trouba couldn't effectively defend—I've said for years now that I see Schneider as slightly better offensively, and would have loved to see him used a little bit more in that manner. But it's probably a little late for that now, at least on the Rangers.

Expectations

I debated just writing "they're low" here and moving on.

But they are pretty low. As I noted above, I don't see much of a chance for Schneider to play above the third pairing, save for injuries that we all hope don't happen. The hope would be that he looks good enough in that role that it causes his stock to rebound enough that you can find someone out there willing to give you something of value for him. In that sense, the looking good would be largely mean not noticing him. If your third pairing is standing out to you, it's probably because they're volatile and bad.

Predictions

84 GP | 3 G | 12 A | 15 PTS

I'll stay this for Schneider: He's durable. Setting aside his rookie season in 2021-22, he's never played fewer than 80 games. This is even more remarkable when you remember that he played with a torn labrum for over two years.

Given that I've predicted that his Rangers career is coming to an end, you might wonder why I have him playing in all 84 games this coming season then. Well, I think it likely makes more sense to play him in sheltered minutes on the third pair to try to rehabilitate his reputation around the league, move him up to the second pair if and when injuries open a spot there, and then look to move his RFA rights this coming offseason.

How confident am I in that? Moderately? I really haven't known what the Rangers are trying to do with Branden Schneider for the last several seasons. I can't say I'm any more certain now.

The Bottom Line

The journey with Braden Schneider has been odd. The pick wasn't super well received around these parts when the Rangers selected him 19th overall in 2020. That's now long enough ago that we can do the recriminations about players who were selected after him who would have benefited the Rangers more: Shakir Mukhamadullin (20th), Egor Chinakhov (21st), Mavrik Bourque (30th), JJ Peterka (34th), Luke Evangelista (42nd), Brock Faber (45th), Alexander Nikishin (69th), Alex Laferriere (83rd). Heck, you can even mount an argument that some of the players the Rangers selected after Schneider who have seen NHL game action—Will Cuylle (60th) and Dylan Garand (103rd), specifically—have either outstripped Schneider's contributions and/or have a clearer, brighter, and more obvious future with the team.

At this point, just simply a change of scenery would probably be good for Schneider. If he goes on to have success somewhere else, we'll get recriminations about that, too. And so be it. The reality is that, between current NHL options and prospects in the system, Schneider doesn't really have a meaningful place on the Rangers anymore. Hopefully he can become a better version of himself somewhere else, because that's where it feels like this is headed.