Mike Sullivan Believes He's Gotten A Large Enough Sample Size Of Rangers' Youth

The 2025-26 season was not one to remember for the New York Rangers, but there’s a small silver lining. 

There’s no hiding the fact that the Blueshirts underperformed this season, and to make matters worse, the team’s future is still filled with uncertainty and concern. 

However, to close out the year, a glimmer of hope shone upon the Rangers nation in the form of young talent. 

Through the latter half of the season, the Rangers called up Jaroslav Chmelař, Adam Sýkora, and Dylan Garand, while signing Drew Fortescue to his entry-level contract and claiming Tye Kartye off waivers. 

Noah Laba, who has been with the Rangers for the entire season, and Gabe Perreault, who has been with the team since December, elevated their play to close out the season, with both forwards taking on increased roles. 

The emergence of some of these younger players helped contribute to the Rangers’ sudden late-season success. 

Over a long home stand starting late in March and extending into April, the Rangers won five of seven games, largely due to the immediate impact of the team’s youth. 

Mike Sullivan believes that he’s gotten a large enough sample size from these young players to where he can properly evaluate them during the offseason and have a better understanding of their individual games going into training camp in September.

“Some of these guys got to, got a chunk of games down the stretch and had an opportunity to get their feet wet, so to speak,” Sullivan said. “After you get your first couple of games under your belt, and you're here for more than a week or so, the reality of the league starts to settle in. Some guys have a hard time sustaining it, and other guys don't. 

“I thought for the most part, the guys that we called up late in the season here, they did a pretty good job of sustaining a high level of play, and so that's certainly encouraging for us moving forward.”