Not every Ranger has been willing to express an unwavering desire to see this retool through.
But Braden Schneider sure did Friday, when the 24-year-old defenseman fielded questions about his individual season and the 2025-26 campaign as he was about to embark on an uncertain summer as a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights.
While noting that it’s all out of his control, Schneider made sure his stance was clear.
“I love being a Ranger,” he said after wrapping up his fifth season in New York. “I’m very proud to be a Ranger, and it feels like home here. I know I’ll be doing whatever I can to be the best player I can be, and I hope it’s here. Whatever happens is going to happen. I’m proud to be a Ranger, so that’s where I’ll leave that. We’ll see what happens.”
The chances of the Rangers trading Schneider in the offseason seem relatively high given president and general manager Chris Drury’s initiative to retool. Schneider, whom the Rangers shopped around leading up to the trade deadline, is one of the few established assets the team has that can bring back the type of return Drury is looking for.
Schneider is young and, as an RFA, teams would be able to acquire his rights this offseason and sign him to whatever deal fits best.
Whether the Rangers can actually get the high-end prospects and/or NHL-ready player they are seeking in a deal for Schneider is yet to be determined. The market does inherently change from the trade deadline to the offseason, but it doesn’t always correlate to better offers.
Drury made it clear with his handling of Vincent Trocheck in March that he has no problem retaining players if the deal doesn’t reach his standards. Problem is, there aren’t many other avenues to choose from.
Schneider is a strong third-pair option on a good team, but the Rangers need to bolster their top four. During his run in Adam Fox’s place on the top pair alongside Vladislav Gavrikov earlier this season, Schneider floundered at times with the increased ice time and uptick in opposition.
By the end of this season, Schneider was on the ice for the most 5-on-5 goals against on the Rangers with 63, per Natural Stat Trick. His average ice time jumped from 17:52 to a career-high 20:27.
Schneider’s 43.26 expected goals percentage was also the lowest among all Rangers defensemen other than rookie Drew Fortescue.
He still led the Rangers in hits taken (196) this season, which is over 60 more than the next player, Will Borgen. His 109 blocked shots led the team as well.
“I think I expected more for myself,” Schneider said. “I wish I would have done a bit more to help us win, and that’s something that I’ll be reflecting on and making sure that next year is better.”
It’s been widely reported that the blue line is a priority for the Sharks, a team that is said to have interest in Schneider.
With the rebuild in San Jose ideally nearing the end, Schneider could be another young piece to cement in place long term.
The Rangers thought Schneider could be a bigger part of their blue line when former general manager Jeff Gorton traded up three spots to draft him with the No. 19 pick in 2020.
He did what he could early on in his New York tenure while swapping D partners as often as he sharpened his blades. The jump in responsibility never quite came full time.
Still, Schneider would be a hard-working addition to any roster. If he remains a Ranger, getting more comfortable with the puck will be key. Head coach Mike Sullivan asserted a desire for adding more puck-moving D, which was apparent when the team was without Fox for as long as they were this season.
“I think my execution breaking pucks out, I think I need to be a bit better there,” said Schneider, who finished the season with two goals and 16 assists. “I think on the offensive side of things, I need to get more pucks to the net, and I need to be more of a player that can help produce from the back end for our team. And then I think just making sure that I bring that physicality that I know I can bring more consistently. I think those are three things that I’ll be focusing in on for sure.”
