The Rangers ’25-’26 Season Preview! | Up in the Blue Seats

The Rangers ’25-’26 Season Preview! | Up in the Blue Seats

I think they will battle for a wildcard spot. Um, but I don’t think this roster is good enough. So, I’m not looking at the opening night roster. I’m like it’s it’s I look at the the opening night roster as a first draft. What’s going on, guys? It’s another episode of Up in the Blue Seats, your favorite Rangers podcast from the New York Post. As always, it’s Molly Walker, former Ranger favorite Brian Bole, and our Hall of Fame columnist Larry Brooks on the mics, and it is officially our season preview episode. Can you believe it? Preseason has felt like a year. Thank god it’ll be two games shorter next season. I mean, Brian, are you a little salty you never got to experience the benefits of a shortened preseason? Well, you know what? When I needed to play more games and prove, I got to play more games. And then as I got older, I remember John Hines once asked me, he goes, “How many preseason games do you want to play?” And I said, “One.” He goes, “I was thinking three or four.” And I go, “Well, the answer is three.” Cuz one’s fine. Um Yeah. It’s just It’s tough. It’s tough if you’re not trying to make a team. It’s It’s hard. When I’m my last year when I’m on a PTO, I’m like, I need all these games because I haven’t played 20 months. Yeah. Well, speaking for us, very excited for a bit of a shorter presence next season. Yeah. Um but all right. No matter how short it is, it’s always too longly because after the, you know, just from our perspective, I understand teams need this time um to evaluate some prospects, but generally there are four stories going into training camp and we’ve written them all the first two days. And so we have to like hunt for, you know, to try and and and and add a twist to the story. Well, maybe Noah Laba can play the wing, you know? You know what I mean? But but honestly, there there there are a finite number of stories going into camp and we all burn them within the first couple of days. And so it’s like, okay, let’s let’s get going. Let’s get going. Let’s get going. These are these are media problems. Nobody else problems. media problems. All right, let’s let’s start off with some injury news. We’ve got JT Miller who suffered a non-cont lower body injury during practice the other day and our Tammy Paneran has been dealing with a lower body injury. Miller did rejoin the team today for practice but in a red non-cont jersey. Paneran on the other hand, it’s a little bit peculiar because he had been a full participant in practice this past week, but he was a late scratch for Thursday’s game and then he missed today’s practice with what the team said was an upper body injury, but then Sullivan said it wasn’t a new injury. So, I’m not really 100% sure what’s going on. Maybe it was just a miscommunication on their part. Who knows? But, I mean, what’s the concern level from you guys? I’m not particularly concerned about their health. Um, but I don’t like their their full top six and their projected first power play unit I don’t think practiced at all together during this camp because um, our Tammy barely practiced the first week or 10 days and then JT went down early this week. So, you know, it’s a it’s a power play that is incorporating new concepts. Um, when I talked to Mika last week about it, he said, you know, we can do things a little bit differently. Obviously, there’s going to be a major change without Crider at the net front. Um, they’re they’re trying to slide in guys into different positions. Listen, they’re all veterans. Maybe they’ll score three power play goals on the first night, but I, you know, I think you’d rather have them practiced as a unit at least one or two times during training camp. So, um, that’s that’s my concern with their health. I don’t know how they’re also, you know, there they’re there are a lot of guys over, you know, in that top six. there are a lot of guys for them are over 30 and you you know you’d like to see them um not encounter these issues I think yeah that’s bang on and you want to it’s so depending on how everyone takes care of themselves everyone usually takes care of themselves really well and guys are playing these elite guys with these crazy motors are playing effective elite hockey into their 30s well into their 30s now you’ve seen it a more and there’s so much technology that goes into that. It’s incredible how it’s changed just from when I started to even my last year and now. Um thing, you know, you worry about a back cuz that’s could be hip gro backs technically upper body. It’s just in that general area. Uh hopefully that gets squared away because those can kind of linger on. Um as far as them playing together, I just want you to think about something. So like training camp practice on the power play if you can get the unit together generally is pretty intense and as close to game like as you can get without being in a game because you have guys that are going to go to Hartford guys on PTO’s that that’s their game. If you can kill a penalty against the top unit well you’re going to get another look. It’s an opportunity. when it’s during the season or even when training camp gets cut down. There’s never really a ton of that special teams that goes on. And if it is, it’s early in camp and it’s it’s kind of like thrown out really. If it’s really good, you’re kind of like, well, look, you’re not really going against season penalty killers or if it’s bad, it’s like, well, we just kind of got together, you know? So, I never gave a ton of stock in that. Um, I did if I was killing the penalty, like I was going to do whatever I could trying to make a team. But for those top guys, you just assume they can kind of figure it out. And the nucleus of it is pretty similar. You’re going to add a guy cuz Krider’s out. You’re going to Sullivan said, “What about maybe trying different guys on two different units and seeing how it all shakes out?” I I honestly don’t know how much he’s going to mess with it uh with the names you would expect on it. Um maybe some load management stuff. I thought Troach played a lot last year where he could have maybe mitigated some of those minutes down given other guys bigger roles like a All those things I guess is just speculation because we haven’t seen real games and and these injuries are just an annoyance because we would have that information and we could talk about it. So now we just have to speculate on it. Well, I I I agree with you. I agree with you about uh Chekk’s workload for sure. Um, we’ve discussed for a couple of years about the Lefrenier situation getting on the first power play, but and and so that would be the, you know, that would be the easiest slide, right? You you you substitute Lefren here for Troach, but Troche wins faceoffs. Oh, I he’s a he’s an elite faceoff guy. And and if you’re losing the first faceoff killer, your power play is now a minute 30. It’s not it’s not two minutes. And so that’s that’s another factor that I think probably the coaching staff would probably lean toward keeping Choche on the first unit because they you need to win the puck. You need to have puck possession on the power click. That’s why but that’s why he played so much. You had to do those things. But right and I’m not saying play him less because he doesn’t he doesn’t do well on the ice. I just think him at 18 18 and a half versus 24 some night a lot of nights last year right he couldn’t get I mean it’s center’s the hardest position conditionally on your body in in the world it’s and so it’s and he doesn’t play it and he’s also playing soft and he’s also playing with a full shield now too right he’s a junkyard so that hasn’t been you know great for him um I agree but but you know sorry was last year’s coaching staff, but their their ice management I thought was, you know, was inscrutable. You know, the the they played the fourth line so you know so rarely that he was just piling up minutes on their on their top guys. And again, they’re over 30, right? you know, you you can play well in this league when you’re over 30, but um not everybody, you know, not everybody at 32 is what they were when they were 27 or 25. So, I think you need to manage that and I think that Sullivan has acknowledged that that’s going to be um a consideration for him. Oh, yeah. Sullivan right away when we were asking him about the power play, his three parts of it were load management being the number one, possible different unit variations, and then if Alexi left is going to unlock his full potential, he needs a pathway to top power play minutes, which I also I mean that became the story of the day that day because that’s been a topic of conversation since Alexi Lepreer was drafted first overall and first came to New York. So, um, I thought that was incredibly interesting that Mike Sullivan outlined it that way right off the bat. Um, and I think it was just a testament to how much thought Mike Sullivan has put into what he wants to do with this Rangers roster and how he wants to fix it. C, can I just say one thing just so everybody’s perfectly clear about You’re not allowed. When Mike Sullivan says load management, he’s not giving anyone the night off. Just so everybody’s clear in this. This isn’t the NBA. This isn’t the NBA. You said that part, but it’s like minute and a half, two minute, like a shift less a period maybe if uh and it’s not just to give the guy rest so he’s better throughout. It’s to get the other guys the empowerment like I’m part of this thing too. He’s very good with that. So we’re not taking games off. No. No. I think it it makes sense when you look at the way that the Rangers are constructed especially for the last few years. So many of their top power play guys are also their top pen penalty killers. So that is it’s it’s a huge load to manage. Like it’s a huge workload especially for guys like Adam Fox, Vincent Trochek. Uh it’s a lot. So I am I think the Adam Fox being run into the ground narrative every season is so valid. Like it it’s been that way since he first came into the league. So, I know he’s young, but still D’s D is not that hard. But it is true. It definitely feels like he’s he’s got a lot of mileage on him already. So, I think that it’s really it’s it’s nice to hear Sullivan’s thoughts on that. Um, all right, moving over to some roster moves that the Rangers made today. They sent Scott Marorrow and Gabe Perau to Hartford, which means that Noah Laba, Brett Bard, and Connor Sheiri are still around for the forward group. But it looks like we have our top seven defenseman set in Adam Fox, Vladisl Vlattislav, Gabriov, Will Borggan, Braden Schneider, Carson Susie, and Matthew Robertson as the 7D. Larry, what were your thoughts on how training camp went for Maro and Perau? And does it make sense for them to start in the AHL to you? I don’t think Marorrow grabbed the job. I thought he was acceptable, but I I don’t think he stood out and I think he needed to stand out because um it it was interesting to me actually that he’s a righty, right? And I I was interested that um Sullivan and Quinn had him on the left side a number of times during practice. That that surprised me. But, you know, I I think if if Scott Marorrow had grabbed the job, it would have changed the picture completely because Schneider then would have moved to the left, right? If if Maro was on the right. Um I think I think Maro will be here. Um um if he plays well in Hartford, if he takes command in Hartford, um I think they do need a second power play uh point guy. Um, and I and I think um, but I I don’t think he quite was dynamic enough. I I you know, I I I don’t think he won the job. Um, which leaves them with this defense, which I think is pretty questionable, but you know, below the top pair, how they’re, you know, how it it appears as though they’re going with Susi and Borggan as the second pair because they played together in Seattle. Um, they’re going with Vakan and Schneider because as a third pair because they played last year. I kind of get it, but I also This is Braden Schneider’s fifth year. He’s a first round draft choice. At some point, he needs he needs to be able to grow his ceiling, and I think it’s very difficult to do that as a third pair. Now, I know that um Sullivan has said he’s rated in our top four, but that doesn’t mean he has to play in our top four. He’s going to get top four minutes. You know, maybe we, you know, we’ll see, but I think they I think they have undervalued Braden Schneider from the start. That’s that’s my opinion. Brian, how about you, especially on Perau, what’s the benefits of the time in Hartford? I think look, there’s this is going to sound a certain way and it’s not. Like, if I I understand how the league’s changed and I’m for it. Like go look at the Sportico report on what the league values are across the board. Like the game is obviously in a great place. I worry about and he he’s got, you know, lineage. He’s got he’s a legacy with his dad, so he knows about pro hockey. He’s been around it enough and he’s obviously super talented kid. I’m very high on him. His IQ is very high from what I saw from him last year uh and in college. I I don’t think there’s anything wrong with you’re playing pro hockey in the best developmental league in the world uh under, you know, as close to the structure and systems that your NHL club is doing without the scrutiny of a New York media. You guys pounding them all the time. Who who me? Yeah. No, I’m just But it’s it’s like that’s okay. And it’s going to be hard and you got to jump on a bus and and again that part of the American League is, you know, I say I rode the bus. I did the American League thing and it’s kind of it’s kind of a badge of honor, but I played for Manchester who had we had to go to Lel or Albany or Portland or Hartford or Providence and like we played those or Worcester. We played them like 10 times a year. We we we bust for an hour and a half. You know, you’re eating crap food, but I don’t even think it’s like that anymore. So, it’s it’s you you grind through that a little bit, earn your spot, understand the pace. If he figures out the American League, his IQ is going to be that much higher up in the National League because the game is almost easier when you’re when you’re a cerebral player. The NHL is easier. Um it’s so much more chaotic in the AHL. Uh so, I’m not and you know, we we talked about what they have in the top six. Like, you want this guy to be a top six player. You don’t want to stunt them. And a lot of fans love to play the kids. Play the kids. And and it’s it’s obvious because that’s the new shiny toy. This is the thing to talk about. Watch this guy play. He’s going to be And then you dream about how good he’s going to be in the future. Like this is the right move right now. If he’s not going to get a ton of touches, he’s not going to be on a power play unit. Maybe he will, but he gets these reps. What if he’s what if he has three points in his first 15 games? Like now you’re kind of starting from scratch all over again. if he goes down, even if he struggles in Hartford, it’s not it’s just like the game’s coming, he’ll figure it out. Um, and then it’s up to the kid on D. Uh, I was interested in the Mororrow one because, you know, I thought he’s played some games. He’s been a pro for a little while. Uh, and everyone seems to be pretty high on on the guy. But again, you have to show you’re the best option, and there’s six spots. So, it’s the same as Pearl. You’re not going to rush a defenseman in, have him get his doors blown off, and then you have to start from scratch, and now you’re going down. It’s less of a demotion if it happens at camp, I guess, is the best way to put it together. Mhm. I also wouldn’t be I wouldn’t be surprised if Robertson like is purely 7D just to hold the space. And if a defenseman gets hurt, Marorrow would get the call up to fill. Surprised the Jones. Yeah. Well, no, cuz Jones Jones went in, especially like the last injuries. He actually Yeah. Yeah. But I feel like I could see that being the setup where, you know, Robertson is just kind of there to fill the the roster spot and Marorrow would actually get the call if they needed it. Sully likes an older or a veteran moreish veteran guy. We he did it with Chad Rudil in in Pit and Chad Rudy was awesome. We did have injuries. He played a bunch and you guys saw him in Mhm. Well, he was he was around play a whole bunch. I loved him as a player because then he came in and you knew exactly what you’re getting. It’s not like a prospect. There’s no like it’s not a se uh like a ceiling on them. You just you have that guy. Those guys are really important guys. like unless unless Gabe Perau dominated from day one through the final preseason game, the plan was to send him back. Yeah. Um, you know, it would have been uh he would have needed to be extraordinary because they they they want to do this right. Yeah. So, I I have no no issue with that at all. Um, if they send Laba back, I won’t have an issue with that. But that was my next question. I’m disappointed that Parson hasn’t shown more in this camp. It’s kind of like he came into camp as an incumbent, and I don’t really understand that. Um, and I honestly and I I’ll say this that that I haven’t been at practice much this week, so I can’t speak to how these players worked this week, but I also haven’t been terribly impressed by Taylor Radish, and he came in as an incumbent. And that third line to me of apparently is going to be Connor Sherry Parsons unless unless they go with Laba. They they go with Globa and keep 14 forwards at the start which would cut into some cap space. But I I think that um third line is just a placeholder line at at this point, right? Um, I’m disappointed that Brett Bard s, you know, I don’t know, may maybe I’m missing something on Bard. Maybe he didn’t win a job either the same way that Maro I said that Maro didn’t, but I don’t think he gets enough of a look from the Rangers. I I think he’s and and I could be wrong. Um, this is his second coaching staff. So, but I think he’s almost typ cast. Yeah. As as a as a as a as as a fourthline guy. And um I I think he can bring more than that. But, you know, maybe that’s a minority opinion. No, I I don’t disagree with that. I like Brett Bard’s game a lot and I feel like he brings a lot of that energy and that like jolt to the lineup that the Rangers, you know, any lineup needs more of that. Yeah. No. If my only wor like Yeah. The knock on him. Obviously, he’s not big, but that’s not an issue because how he plays kind of he plays fearless. Yeah. He’s a fearless guy out there. His uh reads and hockey IQ are still a little immature. So like that that spark plug is great. Mhm. But until you can put it together with how you make reads and then you go chicken and egg like well he needs reps at this level to to understand that versus how much more is he going to develop in Hartford. You know that’s not for us to answer. That’s obviously why the coaching staff does what they do. But that’s probably why he looks like he’s for sure bottom six and probably probably probably a fourthline guy cuz he hops over the boards three shifts, two shifts, five shifts a period and he plays one way. It’s he can stir it up and change the pace of things which is helpful. I think there’s more there where he can develop and if you go down and play create more like yeah we know you’re going to work try to create more think through the game a little bit. I think then he takes a step. Okay. I just had something I was going to say and it completely escapes me. Um, oh, I was going to ask about uh Noah Laba. Um, Larry, what have you seen from Laba and do you think that there’s a chance that they keep him and especially with the uncertainty surrounding Miller and Paneran right now? I think it’s it’s going to be an interesting decision over the next uh weekend and I think it’ll be whether they want to keep 14 or not. Um, I I I I think they would like to keep one. I I actually do. I I you know, I I think that, you know, from the class that started with Oman, you know, and and, you know, then Perau and Laba and Bard, I think they’d like to have one make the team. Um, but if if Noah Laba is going to be a scratch, if he’s going to be in and out, right? You know, maybe that’s not the worst thing either. You know, if if he’s here for a couple of weeks and is practicing is practicing with the Rangers. I I think he’s had the best camp of of any rookie. Um, I think he’s mature. He had, you know, I I don’t think he had great nights this week against um the Islanders or or Devils. Um he was in a fourth line role uh last night, right? And um his line was kind of caved when they were matched against Barzal at the island. So I’m sure there’s a lot more growing for Noah Laba to do and maybe they will just send him and say, “Hey, let’s let’s you know, we’ll watch you very closely. You you know, make us make us bring you up.” Um, but again, I I would be I would be better with this if I were more impressed by Parsons. Yeah. Again, maybe I’m missing something on Parson. Um, but I didn’t really see much from him the final, you know, 12 or 15 games last year after he came over. And I haven’t really seen very much from him in in training camp. I I remember what I was going to say and it’s going back to what Brian was saying about Bard. The phrase of training camp for Mike Sullivan when he’s talking about what he wants in the third line is conscientious play. So that makes a lot of sense with what you were saying Brian about Berard on both sides of the puck. I think that I think that’s the I think you’d like to have a little bit more than that though. Yeah, you would. But look at their look at their options. No, it’s a requirement. No, it is required that they be conscientious, but I think you’re going to need a little more from that. When you also look at the fourth line, how many goals do you think the fourth line of Edstrom, Carrick, and Reppy are going to produce? You need to get some scoring from the bottom six. Rempie is going to score 20. What are you talking about? He’s playing netfront on PP2, haven’t you, Jared? All right. I just I I’m gonna I’m gonna my guess on Parson and V for Larry is just what you said about conscientious play. He’s above the puck and it’s more of okay, I got 27 guys I’m really looking at here. How are these all how are these puzzle pieces going to fit into 18 and two each night? And that’s a guy that doesn’t jump off the page and create a ton, but he can go out and kill time off the clock because he’s just above the puck. He’s not really going to hurt you. Is he what is he giving you? Eventually, that’s going to hurt you if it’s not, you know, creating anything. And a guy like Bard can go in there and kind of create something uh at the risk of maybe missing a read somewhere. I texted Larry last week about Laba. I’m like, “This guy looks different.” So, I’m I’m I just sure my own personal like I was right. Uh I hope he makes it and does well because he’s got an element and he’s got things that he can do that uh at his age and his experience level I thought were impressive. Obviously, there’s quite a bit of polishing left to do with all these guys that hope to have long careers, but it was cool to see it. He had that nice OT winner that was a beauty. And how often do you see that with these guys? Yeah, he’s also he looks like his stature is NHL ready. He he doesn’t look like he looks like he belongs when he’s out there for sure. Um all right, going back to our Tammy Paneran, let’s address the impending unrestricted free agency elephant in the room. It is looking like Paneran is going to go into this season without an extension. He politely declined to talk about it publicly earlier in training camp, as did general manager Chris Jury, which is expected. Larry, where are things at on that front from your perspective? Um, I I don’t I don’t think there’s a dynamic at this point. Um, I think the Rangers I know the Rangers know that Paneran is not amenable to taking a discount. Um, I don’t think at this point the Rangers are going to offer him a, you know, a long-term contract um, over 12 million, over 14 million or over 16 million. So, I I I expect um I expect Paneran to remain unsigned during the season. Brian, do you think the Rangers should prioritize signing Arty Paneran or how much of it depends on how this season shakes out? I don’t think uh for player or team it’s any sort of I mean there’s always risk, but I don’t think it’s a huge risk. like the Rangers are going to have a number and a term that they are going to go to. Um if he has another fantastic season, they might finagle it where you add some term sort of Allah Marand in Florida. Um that is one option. Not saying they’ll do that. I think that, you know, he has been so important to turning everything around after the letter and done some tremendous things. You know, he’s top of the league in a lot of categories, top three, top five. Um, you got to look at age and project things as and that’s what GMs have to do when contracts come out. And, um, do I think he would have suitors? 100%. if the season doesn’t go great and he’s unsigned and a team needs a player like that, like you could get a hall for him, too. So, it’s not terrible um for the RA from the Ranger side. For our Timmy, he’s made so much money. It’s not really that terrible for him to go into the season wanting what he wants and not really settling for less if he doesn’t have to yet. It’s going to come to up to him whether he wants to stay or not. and you know, I’m not in his shoes and I don’t know, you know, what his priorities are. Seems to like it in New York, signed that ticket when I didn’t think he was going to sign in New York. Um, kind of surprised some people. It was sort of a last minute thing. Also left money on the table around the league. Yeah. I mean, it’s a pocket change for what he ended up signing for anyway, but of course, but but yeah, it shows you that he wanted the fit and he liked the opportunity. So yeah, I’m not I’m not overly concerned that he is unsigned, especially with the fact that he’s not a comp to Carell Capri off. They’re not they’re not they’re both Russian, but they’re not like and they’re both wingers, but they’re not comps just because he’s been there. Carill’s only played for one team. He wants to play for one team, whatever. Our Timmy, he’s just older. He’s an older player. So you can’t be a comp when you’re that far apart in age. So I wouldn’t look at the Capri off or whatever signs or whatever David signs as a comp. And also those guys aren’t signed yet either. So you in a hurry to sign this guy. What if you never know what happens around the league, right? 100%. And we are pretty confident that the Rangers will set themselves up to be players in this upcoming free agent class. They would be silly not to. So, I don’t know if I think the owner is gonna want to make a splash, too. I think Yeah. I mean, he usually likes doing that. Conor McDavid could come to New York. We’ll see. We shall see. Um, all right. You heard it here first. Molly’s Molly’s calling it. I’ve been talking about it since it became a possible possibility. I mean, look, I’m rooting for what is going to sell most papers for the New York Post. So, yes, Conor McDavid coming to New York would accomplish that. That would help. So, yes, it definitely would. Um, we shall see. Um, okay, mosy on on over to a more fun topic, Mr. Matt Rempy. I think one of my favorite moments from this preseason was watching Matt Rempy win Mike Sullivan over in real time in that first preseason game against the Devils. I mean, when Sullivan was asked about that towering fourth line, I think it was Nathan Aspenol, Dylan Rubric, and then Rey. He was asked about the line as a whole, but Sullivan basically just gloated about Rempy for about a minute straight. Uh Larry, you’ve sat down with him and spoke to him about his summer. What did that look like and where do you see him going this season for the Rangers? Well, here’s here’s something I was actually thinking about this morning. Um, I’ve always believed that Matt Rempy could be an effective weapon as a player, that he was not just a fighter, he was not, you know, a team mascot. He was, you know, not, you know, just a cult hero that he could be a player. And I think he’s taken major steps to be an effective player, be responsible on both sides, but he also has to bring menace to the game. He He does because that’s the X factor that sets him apart. Like I I watched, you know, even look, maybe this is not significant at all. Um but here’s Troche last night playing against the Devils, right? He’s he’s wearing that, you know, full mask and he’s being accosted by a couple of players. No, like there’s there’s, you know, there’s there’s not a pack mentality that there are three players now skating toward Troche. And there was an incident on the island on Monday night, I think, where Adam Fox might have gotten pushed around a little bit in in a in a situation and there was no real response. Now, it didn’t it, you know, it didn’t devolve into anything. There wasn’t a brawl. Um, I’m not saying they’re intimidated, but I think I think they need Matt Rempy to be a deterrent X factor. He, you know, he needs to keep his elbows down. You know, he can’t hit guys in the head. Um, he needs to be responsible, but he needs to also bring that menace, that X factor to the ice that the Rangers almost never have. So, that, you know, that’s that’s that’s um that’s my my thought about about Matt. I hope that continues with Sully and Reppy because you’re bang on, Larry. And how the team was constructed in Pittsburgh didn’t lend itself to much of that. And you know, Sid had so much respect around the league, but there were moments the last couple years where you saw 87 in Pittsburgh like going after guys cuz there wasn’t really much no one else would. And you know, I used to drive Mike Rob. He would talk about it all the time. It would drive me crazy a little bit. And um I wouldn’t and you know, we discuss it a little bit. Well, as Sully saying, you know, just keep playing because we have these weapons. Or is this just a personnel thing of who they have? Well, they have guys that can play abrasive, you know, and it’s not just Matt Rempy, even though like I think he skates well enough and he can do things as if the better his game gets, the more intimidating as a physical player he becomes. Matthew Olivier has turned himself into, you know, a top nine player, I think, in the NHL. And he is a killer. He is a savage. And he commands a ton of respect on the ice. And he’s like one of my favorite players to watch because guys won’t even fight him now, but it won’t stop him from getting in, being intimidating, playing abrasive, you know, hitting hard, and he won’t back down. And that sinks other teams. If he can, if if Reppy can get those shifts and be effective to the point where another team’s coach is looking, is anybody going to step up and do something? Well, then he’ll then he’ll have a challenger. Then he’ll have a fight. Then his game goes to another level because he’s going to get more reps at that. And then you got to then you have like the Will coming around. Then you have Troche being a pest. That’s what it takes. You have to champion those guys. They’re going to be in the box a little bit. Sometimes you’re going to have to kill something off, but you’re never going to wonder if that guy has your back or if we’re not if we’re going to stick together tonight. That is so important for a team. And I I think he has the opportunity to really that’s part of his role. And the more he gets to play and the more of a veteran presence he is, he gets older in the league and becomes an everyday guy, I think it’s just going to grow and grow and grow. Hey, you know, you know what I wanted to ask you? Um, you had a tough team under AV when he came in. It was a little different than, you know, the black and blue shirts. A little different, but you still had you you had tough guys on that team. So, what was your reaction? What was the team’s kind of response to the whistleto whistle edict from Ait? My interpretation of it was early in the game or if we’re winning and then late in the game I didn’t pay any attention to the whistleto whistle stuff in the playoffs because right if you’re down to whatever like two goal leads when I was playing under AV were like essentially you’re never going to win that game. It’s different league now. But, you know, I remember Jared Stole was one of the greatest guys to me when I got to LA and was trying to get in the league and he took me to and I I was like badgering him in that cup final saying things that I won’t repeat and that I’ve like gone to confession for trying to get him to do some yelling at guys that I came up with that I like thought I was close with and I’m because we were losing or you know we’re in these tight games or we’re down in the series. whatever it was that that was kind of tossed out the window. It was just like when we have this attack, when we’re in control of games, we’re going to get whacked. They think they’re going to bully us. Like you have Derek Steon, you have Brad Richards as a center. You know, you had, you know, guys that played hard and and weren’t scared of anything, but weren’t really intimidating. Weren’t going to, you know, Mark Stall was a physical, strong defenseman. He didn’t really blow that many guys up. Sometimes he did in the middle of the ice. you know, Gerard is saying, but then he stroll. Guys were good and physical and we played the right way, but you didn’t look at our lineup like that guy could break my face with a punch. So, he was just basically like, we can’t do it, so just don’t invite it unless like you really have to do it. And then at that point, you know, I I got in a fight against uh in the first round that year with AB against Adam Hall. We were down 5-1. This was game six, right? And Adam Hall was like slashing me, asking me to fight. We’re we’re losing the game. I looked at him, it was at the end of the game and I got a, you know, I like Adam Hall a lot. I’ve got to know him since afterwards, but I got to have a fight with Adam Hall at the end of this game. We’re getting pumped. I’m so angry. And I beat the hell out of him and I got to go off the ice and I never forget Joe Mlenny said it on the call. He goes, “You think game seven already started?” It sure has. And then, you know, we go out and we win game seven. So Amy didn’t have a problem with any of that. Game was over. It was just in the moment. And I think we had to understand we’re not going to be chippy. And it was basically like calm down a little bit, play the game, and then and then we he kind of like let us sort of off the hook after that. Just no more retaliatory stupid chitsy crap. Plus, he had burrows for all those years in right in Vancouver, so he might have been a little skittish. Yeah, I I think uh I I’m planning on writing this tomorrow, I think. But a player that I would like to see a little bit more of that from, you mentioned him Brian is Trochek. I went back and I read a column that I wrote from the 2024 run when they beat Carolina and I was rereading it and just he what a men You want to talk about a menace? Yeah. He was relentless. Relentless in that series. He didn’t shut up. He didn’t shut up once when he was on the ice. It was unbelievable though. It was unlike anything I had ever witnessed in person to his old teammates like you were saying like and I that’s what I wrote like no one had I had never seen a pendulum swing so dramatically for a fan base per after perhaps John Tvaris with the Islanders. with the Canes fans were just like up in arms, you know, like here’s this guy who they used to love is now tormenting them on the other end of the ice and it was such a crucial part of that series I feel and that run. He had such an unbelievable run production-wise on top of that. I was like, that’s the Vincent Troche that I would like to see return to the Rangers this year because he really I mean I don’t, you know, blame him for it because I’m sure it was very tough to channel that given what was going on with with team and and the whole season. I get it. But I would really really love to see that Vincent Troche come back because they need more of that. Yeah. I wrote uh I wrote uh Carolina didn’t want to pay him, but they’re sure paying now. Yeah, that’s great. It was so I I I told this story probably on the podcast that year, but and I wrote it in the column, too. Larry and I were sitting in the Raleigh Durham airport talking about Troche series, and some young woman next to me was like, “Troch’s a weasel.” Like just interrupted the conversation and was like, “Oh, you talking about Troche? I hate that guy. I was like, “Oh, this is so funny.” But that’s what it was. Like that was the Vincent Droche effect and I didn’t see that last year. It goes a lot back to Brian’s point earlier. You have to manage his ice time, right? He shouldn’t be on the ice 24 minutes a night. He shouldn’t be averaging 22 minutes a night over a six week stretch. You know, it’s like he’s he’s not Eric Lendros, right? His physique. He’s he’s not he’s not Brian Bole either. So, dead. Larry, what’s your season prediction? I think they will battle for a wildcard spot. Um, but I don’t think this roster is good enough. So, I’m not looking at the opening night roster. I’m like it’s it’s I look at the the opening night roster as a first draft and then we’ll see what they then we’ll see what the roster is at the end of October. We’ll see what the and you know the roster is in November. I think they need the guys who are going to go back to Hartford to make a push to be here. Um, I I think you know if Gabe Perau becomes a player this year for the Rangers, if Noah Laba becomes a player this year for the Rangers, their prospects, you know, pun intended, I guess, their prospects elevate. If they’re playing with this kind of a lineup all year, I think it’s going to be very, very difficult for them. Brian, I am I think Carolina is gonna probably win the Metro and maybe win the East pointswise. Um, and I don’t see a ton of I don’t see a ton in the Metro. Um, I think obviously the Devils might be a little better. I got them in the playoffs. I got them with their stars. I think it’s it’s the guy behind your your shoulder there is the start and finish of what’s going to drive their That’s why that’s why the Swedish jersey is up because we’re channeling the Swed team Sweden make as a manager this season. So important. He is so important if he can bounce back and Aaron stays healthy. I don’t think people realize how good JT Miller is yet still because the year he had to go through last year, right? I like a lot of their pieces. Lafrenir is another one. I think they’re in the playoffs. I think around the deadline, you get uh a heavier piece for third line role, hopefully a center, but they don’t give those away. And then a heavier piece to round out a solid really good at least top four D. You know, a bottom a four, five, six D man if he can grab. I I I would be excited about those things. lots has to go right, but I think the talent level is certainly there and I think I like Mike Sullivan a lot. So that’s that was my prediction. I think they’re a playoff team. I don’t think they’re a President’s Trophy winning team by any means. Yeah. But I think they’re a playoff team for sure. I’m in agreement with Larry about what he said about the roster, but I also I mean if history has told us anything, this team always gets a firstear bump from a new coaching staff. And I expect Mike Sullivan to I think Mike Sullivan is an even bigger presence than Gerard Galant and Peter Lavlet. So I expect it to have the same kind of effect. So I’m in agreement. I think that they’ll they’ll make the playoffs at the very least. But I’m not I’m not picking them to win the Stanley Cup like I did last year for sure. All right. I thought last year I thought last year was a little overhyped and I think this year with them and the Boston Bruins I I think those two teams are going to be better. Listen, we’re not talking about the Boston Bruins here. Unless we’re talking about the East. I’m talking about the East. Unless we’re talking about how the Yankees beat the pants off the Red Sox last night. We’re not talking about Sweet. Who’s that pitcher? Where’s he from? M. What did your Boston fans do? They tormented his mother so he took it personally. Yeah. Did you see that? Can’t go after Mama Bear. No. I loved that. I loved that. We can’t We can’t We can’t chirp Boston fans like we’re better than the Boston fans after after the Ryder. Brian, example three million. I’m going to Okay, it’s all the same shame. Anyways, anyh who, we’re done with the baseball talk. Signing off. See you guys next week. [Music] [Applause] [Music]

The New York Rangers’ season is finally here, and the ‘Up in the Blue Seats’ crew is breaking it all down!

Mollie Walker, Brian Boyle, and Larry Brooks deliver their season preview for the ’25-’26 New York Rangers. From pre season roster battles, to injury concerns, Artemi Panarin’s contract situation and Matt Rempe’s impact. Can the Rangers return to form at the top of the Eastern Conference this year?! Find out on this weeks edition of ‘Up in the Blue Seats’.

Timecodes:
00:00- Intro
2:24- J.T. Miller and Artemi Panarin injury updates
11:35- Preseason Roster Moves
27:00- Artemi Panarin’s contract situation
31:54- Matt Rempe’s impact on the season
42:55- Season predictions

#nypostsports #sports #nhl #hockey #rangers #newyorkrangers #hockeypodcast #artemipanarin #mikazibanejad #adamfox #jtmiller #mikesullivan

Subscribe and don’t miss out on all the key news, highlights, and interviews about the Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Devils, Islanders and what’s buzzing in the sports world too!

Catch the latest news here: https://nypost.com/sports/
Follow The New York Post Sports on:
Twitter – https://twitter.com/nypostsports
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/nypostsports/