As the NHL postseason carries on, we have two familiar teams in their conference finals, and two new upstarts looking to change the narrative. As I’ve watched this postseason, I’ve felt something unfamiliar to me: I really don’t hate many teams. I hate the Vegas Golden Knights for reasons I’d rather not get into here, but beyond them, the deep-seeded hatred I have felt in the past toward specific teams just wasn’t there. It begged the question: Who are the Rangers biggest rivals right now? Vegas isn’t really one you think of, but that’s personal of course.
Normally, as a Rangers fan, I would have expected to be rooting for a meteor over the Philadelphia Flyers or Pittsburgh Penguins. However, this postseason I just watched and enjoyed the games, while mildly rooting for the Flyers because of my disdain for Sidney Crosby.
This all has me thinking; who are the Rangers biggest rivals right now? This is based on what I believe for general Rangers fans, not what I believe for myself.
5. Boston Bruins
I toyed around with a lot of teams here. The top four to me feels extremely obvious, with the only argument being where you’d place the teams within those spots. I have the Bruins at the five spot simply because they play in Boston, and Boston fans and New York fans generally hate each other.
Realistically, there hasn’t been much overlap between the Bruins and the Rangers in recent years. If you wanted to argue the Washington Capitals belong here, I would not argue. We could probably add Carolina as one of the Rangers biggest rivals here, mostly because of their playoff meetings.
4. Philadelphia Flyers
This is where I remind you this is based on right now. Honestly, the Rangers and Flyers have little to nothing to do with each other right now, and that’s been the case for a while. The two rivals have taken turns being good, with little overlap. In fact, the last time both teams made the playoffs was in 2016, when they both lost in the first round. (I am not counting the 24-team postseason!)
The Flyers and Rangers will always have their rivalry, but right now it doesn’t have much energy to it.
3. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Dan Muse and Mike Sullivan coaching swap could have brought some drama to this rivalry, but didn’t at all. THat’s mostly on the Rangers though, since they were hot garbage. Sidney Crosby’s final chase for a Stanley Cup hasn’t impacted the Rangers in any way, and the Penguins are so focused on milking his career that the two teams haven’t been battling as intensely as in past years.
Ten years ago this one might have gotten the top spot, but for now, it’s number three. There’s recent enough history, but nothing doing now. Maybe if the Rangers thread the needle on the rebuild the Penguins can become one of the Rangers biggest rivals, possibly usurping the Devils if they continue their slide.
2. New Jersey Devils
The Rangers and Devils seem to be going through similar ups and downs. Neither team can quite get their retool/rebuild right, while beating each other up along the way. For Rangers fans, it will always sting that the Devils got Jack Hughes and the Rangers got Kaapo Kakko.
These two teams are longstanding rivals with geographical closeness that tops the Penguins or Flyers.
1. New York Islanders
Who else could it be? The Rangers and Islanders have not just the history, but the ability to turn any matchup into a true rivalry game. There’s no such thing as a run of the mill Rangers-Islanders game. I don’t think there will ever be a scenario where the Islanders are not the biggest rivals for the Rangers.
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