Rangers set 2026 opening roster amid a mix of reward and questioned process

The Rangers will open the 2026 season carrying 13 forwards, 8 defensemen and two goalies. The headline roster development is Alberts Smits breaking camp with the Blueshirts. Smits' camp performance altered defensive depth and appears to be the single most positive surprise.

Forward group: predictable, functional

The top-nine forwards were largely set coming into camp. Lines projected to start the season are:

• Alexis Lafreniere — Mika Zibanejad — Gabe Perreault
• JT Miller — Pavel Dorofeyev — Oliver Bjorkstrand
• Will Cuylle — Noah Laba — Eeli Tolvanen

Adam Sykora's injury reduced a roster decision headache. Because Tye Kartye required waivers and Sykora did not, the injury timeline makes it easier to slide Sykora to the AHL and address roster needs later in the year. The piece-meal nature of the forward group suggests the club is comfortable with its top-six and third-line roles to start the season.

The main complaint at forward is Matt Rempe's retention as the 13th forward. Rempe can play center and is viewed as a depth option who will play perhaps 20–30 NHL games while spending much of the season out of the lineup. Liam Greentree and Cole Beaudoin outplayed Rempe in camp, but the piece argues neither is suited to a fourth-line role now. Jaro Chmelar and Tye Kartye are in positional competition for additional games should injuries occur.

Alberts Smits impressed in camp. The write-up credits him with poise, solid defensive reads and steady puck decisions, projecting him as a stabilizer on the third pair if Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi hold a solid second pair. Smits' play bumped Matthew Robertson to the 7D role and Scott Morrow to 8D. That creates a crowded blue line and increases pressure on management to make a move, either via trade or injury-driven lineup change.

The most controversial roster decision involved the backup goaltender. The Rangers kept Joonas Korpisalo and waived prospect Dylan Garand. The criticism centers less on the position itself and more on process: Korpisalo's recent performance history includes seasons below a.900 save percentage, while Garand is a promising prospect who may have been worse off left exposed to waivers.

The author argues that waiving Garand posed an unacceptable risk of losing a valuable asset to keep a known underperformer as backup. There was some strategic timing behind the move: earlier in the offseason Garand likely would have been claimed. The timing meant the immediate risk of losing him fell, but the decision still drew scrutiny because it reflects a willingness to protect short-term depth at the possible expense of long-term upside.

• Long term: Smits' emergence improves the club's depth chart, but the Korpisalo/Garand decision highlights a front-office tendency to prioritize short-term certainty despite downside risk to prospect capital.

The roster as announced should be playoff-capable on paper, but the author stresses that the process used to reach it remains flawed in places, and key decisions could shape both playing time and trade urgency early in the season.