Ten Game Temp Check: It’s the End of the Season As We Know It. Are the Rangers Fine?
The youth movement in New York continues to lead the charge for the Rangers down the final stretch of a disappointing 2025-26 campaign.
There are still two games left on the 2025-26 schedule, but the end of this dreadful season is within sight. And, with that, comes the end of the Ten Game Temp Check series.
We're now 80 games in to the season, the Rangers have officially been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, and they currently sit last in the Metropolitan Division, last in the Eastern Conference, and 29th in the overall league standings. That the Rangers have finally found a way to win hockey games is certainly too little, too late, but it still bodes well for the future of this franchise.
Losing three of their last five also helps their draft lottery odds, as Tankathon projects them to land the fourth overall draft pick. Their season record now stands at 33-38-9, but the impressive play from the rookies mixed with Adam Fox, Igor Shesterkin, and even J.T. MIller looking closer to full health—not to mention key players like Alexis Lafrenière and Will Cuylle stepping up—gives the organization hope as they look to next season and beyond.
As the season winds down, let’s do one more predictions-versus-results comparison to see how the team lived up to expectations:
V. Ottawa—L Loss 2-1 V. Ottawa
@ Toronto—W Loss 4-3 @ Toronto
V. Chicago—L Win 6-1 V. Chicago
V. Florida—L Win 3-1 V. Florida
V. New Jersey—W Win 4-1 V. New Jersey
V. Montreal—L Loss 3-2 V. Montreal
V. Detroit—W Win 4-1 V. Detroit
V. Washington—W Win 8-1 V. Washington
V. Buffalo—L Loss 5-3 V. Buffalo
@ Dallas—L Loss 2-0 @ Dallas
The Rangers continued to do more winning than they should have, with mind to their draft position, but the vibes surrounding this team are likely the highest they’ve been all season, and the hockey has been much better in comparison to the season as a whole.
What Went Well
Eighty percent of these Temp Checks throughout the season have been reflecting on just how bad the team was performing and how poor the vibes surrounding them were. In this final portion of the season, they actually gave fans things to be excited about, have played well at times, scored goals, and have given this team life again. The vibes are miles better than they have been for the majority of the season, young players are taking steps, building chemistry, giving the organization lots to think about as they begin to navigate the offseason. Additionally, the Rangers penalty kill has been very strong as they have gone 26-for-28 across this latest stretch of games.
