2026 Rangers Season Previews: Sean Durzi

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.

When it came to brainstorming potential trade concepts and assessing what the New York Rangers largest needs were, a player like Sean Durzi was not the type that immediately came to mind. While Chris Drury made it clear that this team had to improve defensively, it wasn’t a major secret that they were in more need of help on the left side than they were on the right. With Adam Fox, Braden Schneider, and Will Borgen—at the time—it didn’t make much sense for them to go out of their way to bring in another right handed defenseman. 

Of course the Rangers' other big need came in the form of young centers and in the instance of this trade, Cole Beaudoin matched that perfectly. It’s believed that the Rangers preferred return in a Trocheck trade was an NHL-ready player, a young center prospect, and a first round pick. Acquiring Durzi, Beaudoin, and settling for a conditional third, feels like a pretty fair middle ground and, yes, one that helps them retool on the fly. 

Previous Performance

Durzi is coming off a pretty average season by his standard. In 60 games played last year, he recorded five goals and 22 assists for a total of 27 points. That’s the second time in his career he registered that point total, and it comes as his third highest. His career best season came in 2023-23 when he finished with 41 points, with his second best coming the year prior with 38 points. One thing that is worth noting about Durzi’s career is that he’s never once played a full 82 game season, let alone an 84 game campaign. 

Dealing with a number of injuries over his five years in the league, Durzi’s highest game total in an NHL season came in 2023-24 when he appeared in 76 games. The majority of his injuries were related to his shoulder which he had surgery on early in the 2024-25 season. With the injury coming just four games into that season, Durzi only appeared in 30 games that season. This past year, he played in 60, but was still nagged by injury.

Expectations

In terms of what you can expect from Durzi’s game, he’s a puck moving defenseman that sees the ice incredibly well and can be effective on both ends of the ice. While he excels at moving the puck up ice and can certainly help keep the puck out of his team's end of things, it’s really the offensive side in which his game has the most upside. He can quarterback a power play, make plays from the point, and has a bit of an underrated shot.  

Durzi may only clock in at 6-1 and 196 pounds, but he doesn't back down from the fight by any means. Just because he isn't categorized as an overly physical player doesn't mean he can't throw a big hit as needed. And when it comes to standing up for teammates, or himself, he's never afraid to go after an opponent.

It’s fair to assume that Durzi will start the season on the second pair with Marcus Pettersson. It’s a given that Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov will make up the top pair, and while you could consider Braden Schneider on that second pair, Durzi just feels like the better compliment to Pettersson’s game and is, by all accounts, a more effective player at this point in their careers.

Predictions:

NHL: 75 GP | 11 G | 29 A | 30 PTS

In an ideal world, Durzi can stay healthy for the entire season but considering he has never done that across normal 82 game campaigns, 75 games feels like cautious optimism. Forty points in 75 games also feels a bit optimistic, but they’re numbers this player has achieved in the past. If Durzi can stay healthy and be the player that we all know he can be on paper, getting 40 points from a second pair defenseman would be huge for the Rangers. 

This is a team thatm in recent memory, has not gotten a ton of offensive help from their blue line. Adam Fox led the charge with 53 points last season and was limited to 55 games because of injury. After that, Vladislav Gavrikov had a career high 35 points, and there was a major drop off from there with Schneider and Matthew Robertson tied at 18 points each. Even if Durzi only coughs up 20-30 points, it’s going to help this team tremendously. 

The Bottom Line

The injury and limited games per season throughout his career definitely concern me a bit but from everything we can gather on what he brings to the table, he's the exact type of player the Rangers can benefit from. He's certainly an upgrade from Will Borgen on the right side. He can contribute offensively, plays the game hard, and most importantly, moves the puck.