The New York Rangers hated how last season ended.
"That one stung for a while," captain Jacob Trouba said of their seven-game first-round loss to the rival New Jersey Devils in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. "They always sting, but that one was a pit in our stomach for a long time."
It was easy, then, to predict that the Rangers would be a motivated group right out of the gate for the 2023-24 season. The majority of the roster returned. They had a new head coach in Peter Laviolette, as Gerard Gallant paid for the playoff loss with his job.