The thing is, the Rangers have plenty of rivalry even without the Bruins. We’ve got the Devils, Islanders, and Flyers no matter the circumstances and more on and off with the Penguins and Caps depending on when the teams are good at the same time. That’s 5 of 7 teams in the division. If our improvement continues as expected, I’d guess we’ll develop an on/off one with the Canes too.
Do we really need the Bruins rivalry? We haven’t had one with them really since the 70s. It’s not a big deal.
It's a different thing though. The only rivalry that could come close is the NY v Philly and Pitt v Philly. But NY v Boston, just in general, city to city, there is a longstanding rivalry. And that carries over to everything and every sport. Given enough time, that would be very special in hockey also.
Rangers v Devils has its moments, but I don't think can math the general vehemence between NY and Boston. The Isles, meh. I don't think Ranger or Devil fans care that much about the Isles frankly. Not since Bossy was playing at least. Then we have the two Florida teams, who are terrific organizations, but not very high value. Lightning are making their mark at least now and gaining some value though. Canes, another great team, passionate super-fanbase. But the overall fan attention and attention in general to Carolina is minimal. CBJ is one of the lowest value teams like Florida, and they don't really have much of a fanbase and they don't get much attention. The Capitals are a weird team, but DC is generally weird. Rangers v Caps and Carolina v Caps could both be good though. And then yea, we get the Pitt v Philly rivalry which, outside of the O6 teams, are probably two of the other biggest, more well known franchises and one of the bigger rivalries.
From a total hockey perspective and a global hockey perspective, they overpowered the Atlantic by putting 4 of the original 6. Those 6 tending to have the most fans outside of their own cities and globally. So that division is going to get so much more general attention than the other 3. I think splitting up NY/Boston in Metro, Tor/Mtl in Atlantic, Chicago/Detroit in Central would have help even that out. And the Pacific would figure something out, having all 3 Cali teams and all 3 Western Canadian teams. I think this aspect is even more important than the rivalries.
But NY v Boston is just special ALL the time. Bruins and Ranger fans still have a long history being O6 clubs. But that relationship would have flourished if groomed. And it would have been really nice to soo. Meanwhile, I don't think it mattes that much what division CBJ is in. Or Carolina for that matter, they probably have more in common with Nashville and maybe the Florida teams than anywhere else. But CBJ to me makes the most sense to swap with Boston. All just fantasy now anyways.
