Media Bytes: Purgatory, Sully's Soldiers, Othmann's Future
A brutal outside audit: questions about grit, identity, Panarin’s future, and Othmann’s value dominated the league’s Rangers talk this week.
Welcome back to Media Bytes, a weekly column from Blueshirt Banter. Every Sunday, we’ll help you start the week right with a quick catch-up on the latest stories and developments around the New York Rangers and the broader NHL media landscape.
Madison Square Purgatory
1. On Monday’s episode of The Chris Johnston Show, Julian McKenzie tossed Chris Johnston a simple enough question: What does he make of the Rangers this season? The answer landed with a thud.
Johnston didn’t sugarcoat it. He said he always figured the Rangers would top out as a "middle-of-the-pack team if things went well," and that losing players like Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba only tightened that ceiling. "There’s not enough elite on that roster for me at this point," he said. Frankly, it’s hard to argue with him.
Looking ahead, Johnston said he expects an "interesting off-season" for New York and noted that he once viewed the Rangers as being "poised to be a major player in 2026," alluding to the now-depleted free agent class. Beyond Alex Tuch and their own Artemi Panarin, "there’s not a lot [left] to spend money on that summer," he said.
With free agency offering little help, Johnston questioned where the team goes from here. He was frank in admitting he doesn’t have a clear answer. "It's hard for me to see them going true rebuild style," he said. "It’s just not the way the Rangers operate. I know they did that kind of quick reboot a couple years ago and it yielded some results, but the team is kinda aging out. It feels like they're in for some kind of reckoning here."
Johnston added that he expects the Rangers to "grind through" the rest of the season, given how tight the standings are in a weakened Eastern Conference. "If you can just be a little bit above average, that might be good enough to make the playoffs," he said, though he emphasized that he still sees the team as being in a "tough spot."
"There are hard decisions to be made," he concluded. "They're getting older and the young guys maybe aren't good enough to really raise the ceiling. It's going to be a project to get that team back to [a] contention window." Not exactly the rallying cry fans will want to hear, but it’s hard to look at the roster and disagree.
