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Why Rangers’ Will Cuylle is prime target for offer sheet next summer
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- Why Rangers’ Will Cuylle is prime target for offer sheet next summer
Will Cuylle is known for his straight-ahead, thowback style of play, with a low-key, no-nonsense personality to match. With another strong season in 2026-27, however, Cuylle could create plenty of drama for the New York Rangers next summer.
The 24-year-old power forward scored 20 goals in each of the past two seasons and exceeded 300 hits both times. Even if those levels prove to be Cuylle's ceiling and he simply approximates his numbers from 2024-26, the 6-foot-3, 212-pounder will likely be a strong candidate to receive an offer sheet come July 1.
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And if Cuylle makes a big leap in his fourth full season? The Rangers might really have a problem on their hands as they look to re-sign their second-round pick (No. 60 overall) from the 2020 NHL Draft.
Will Cuylle could receive mid-range offer sheet
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Cuylle is set to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next July 1 after completing a two-year, $7.8 million contract . With the NHL salary cap projected to rise to $113.5 million for 2027-28, the Rangers as currently constituted have nearly $36 million in cap space , per PuckPedia. That figure, though, distorts the reality of their financial situation, with only 10 NHL players under contract that season.
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That cap room will go fast over the next year-plus as the Rangers work to re-sign a bevy of young players who, like Cuylle, can become RFAs next summer. That list includes Gabe Perreault , Braden Schneider , and Tye Kartye . Plus, general manager Chris Drury will surely add some high-priced veterans via trade or free agency to further upgrade the roster.
Cuylle's in line for a significant raise, no matter what. An offer sheet would simply raise his price tag since that would probably come with the characteristic overpay that it generally takes to force a player's current team to decide against matching.
Of course, Cuylle wouldn't receive a franchise- and NHL-shaking offer sheet from another team like the one Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson got from the Philadelphia Flyers in the form of a five-year, $90 million contract this offseason, which the Ducks matched. Even if Cuylle only further solidifies his current profile as a strong third-line option, however, his obvious value might yield an offer sheet at a lower compensation level for the signing team.
That's not saying Cuylle is looking to leave Broadway.
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"I think we're building something cool here," Cuylle said at the team's breakup day in April, following a second straight season missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
There's little doubt that the Rangers want the Toronto native to be a part of the core moving forward. Cuylle's game is representative of how Drury and coach Mike Sullivan want the team to play. The Blues hirts remain desperate for players with Cuylle's lunchpail sensibilities – inherent physicality, a desire to attack the crease and win puck battles along the boards and in the dirty areas. His exceptional durability doesn't hurt, either. He played all 82 games the past two seasons and 81 as a rookie the season before that.
Cuylle is also growing into a leadership role, especially for the younger forwards beginning to dot the roster. With an excellent 200-foot game, he's become a key penalty killer for the Rangers, while also developing as a net-front presence on the power play, scoring a career-best four times with the man advantage last season, mainly on the second unit.
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Last season, Cuylle was much more effective in a third-line role, his effectiveness dropping when he played in the top six. Should his development lead to more offense and a path upward in the lineup in 2026-27, however, the Rangers could be playing with fire, allowing Cuylle to reach RFA status.
That might be exactly what Cuylle wants, however. He's no doubt aware that teams are becoming noticeably more willing to extend offer sheets to young players on the rise. Even if the Rangers approach him about an extension during the season, Cuylle only benefits benefit from making himself an offer-sheet target July 1.
The Rangers certainly want to keep a player who scores tough goals and racked up 852 hits over the past three seasons, but at what price? After all, Cuylle isn't a star and may never be. And with the need to re-up so many promising kids , as well as Drury wanting to leave cap room to land a potential superstar for which the Rangers are starved, there's surely a limit to how far the front office will go to retain Cuylle, despite seemingly ample cap space for 2027-28.
Blues' successful offer sheets for Philip Broberg , Dylan Holloway set road map for a Will Cuylle offer
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The threat of Cuylle being poached is real. It was just two years ago that the St. Louis Blues signed defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway of the Edmonton Oilers to offer sheets, with the cap-strapped Oilers declining to match either. Edmonton received a second-round pick for Broberg and a third-rounder for Holloway. Both players, like Cuylle in their mid-20s, since established themselves as key pieces on the Blues roster, and received richer longer-term follow-up contracts.
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Broberg signed a two-year offer sheet for $4.58 million annually, while Holloway signed for two years and $2.29 million per. Cuylle, much more established than both players were at the time they signed, would certainly expect a bigger offer, which would increase the compensation level of the signing team. While the NHL doesn't announce those tiers until the spring, a theoretical offer would probably cost that team one first-round pick and one third-rounder, based on current thresholds.
Such a cost wouldn't be exorbitant to pry away the current version of Cuylle, and if it becomes clear next season that he's continuing to trend upward, an offer sheet for him could push into the next level of compensation – probably a first-, second- and third-round selection – and perhaps make the Rangers think twice about matching such a contract offer.
It's what makes the low-maintenance Cuylle a potential source of high angst come next offseason. Like all teams facing the threat of offer sheets for their valuable young players, the Rangers certainly don't want to lose such an important contributor. There's danger, however, in putting oneself in position to let another team set part of your payroll, almost certainly at a number that won't be comfortable for the Blueshirts if they feel compelled to match an offer sheet for Cuylle.
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