Worst is yet to come: Rangers' loss to last place Predators might not be rock bottom

At the start of the 2024-25 NHL season, the New York Rangers seemed poised to battle for the top of the Metropolitan Division. Now, they’re free falling. The Rangers are 15-15-1 with 31 points in 31 games. They’re on a three-game losing streak. They have lost 7 of their last 10 games, including a loss to the last place Nashville Predators. 

Nashville has just 24 points, tied with the Chicago Blackhawks with the least amount of points in the NHL. With less wins than the Blackhawks, the Predators are currently the 32nd ranked team of the 32 NHL teams. The Predators had lost 9 of their last 10 games coming into the game against the Rangers. The Rangers also lost to the Blackhawks last week.

How bad will it get for the Rangers?  A shutout loss to the worst team in the league and dropping to 23rd in points in the NHL is pretty bad, but it’s about to get even worse.

Remaining schedule suggests times are about to get worse for the Rangers

According to remaining schedule strength on Tankathon, the Rangers have the second-toughest schedule in the NHL the rest of the way. Only the Detroit Red Wings have a harder schedule. Remaining schedule strength is calculated by looking at the combined points percentage for the opponents of a team’s remaining games.

The Rangers have some particularly tough matchups coming up. In the next two weeks, they will face the Dallas Stars, Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins, and Washington Capitals. All of them are good teams and are currently in playoff position. Three of these teams are in the Rangers’ division. 

With this season’s rise of Washington, the Metropolitan Division is shaping up to be a three-horse race between the Capitals, Devils, and Hurricanes. Meanwhile, the Rangers have just two points more than the last place team in the Metro, the Columbus Blue Jackets. This is not where they expected to be.

A fall from grace is never pretty. This free fall has led to a need for change. Amid their struggles, the Rangers recently traded captain Jacob Trouba and 2019 second-overall draft pick, Kaapo Kakko. General manager Chris Drury plans to continue making moves. The players are frustrated.

Don’t expect the bleeding to stop anytime soon. Whenever you think a team in free fall has reached rock bottom, they find a new low. For the Rangers, the worst is still yet to come.