For a team hungry to alter the look of its roster, the New York Rangers have had a pretty quiet offseason, so far. They did trade popular veteran Chris Kreider to the Anaheim Ducks to free up $6.5 million in salary-cap space and have been involved in plenty of trade talks and rumors. But to date, one significant move is it.
Perhaps Chris Drury and Co. are taking a patient approach here. Or the Rangers are working around the edges with their eyes firmly set on next offseason, when the cap rises even more significantly, Artemi Panarin 's $11.64 million cap hit comes off the books, and — at least for now — they can dream on Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel heading up a star-studded group of NHL free agents.
Drury's hands are tied somewhat. Reportedly, the Rangers have shopped K'Andre Miller aggressively this offseason, but haven't liked any of the possible returns enough to pull the trigger on dealing the 25-year-old top-four RFA defenseman.
Then there's the fact that the Rangers have just a bit more than $13 million in cap space , even after the Kreider trade, and still need to re-sign Will Cuylle , along with Miller or Miller's replacement.
NHL free agency officially gets underway Tuesday at Noon ET. The Rangers are rumored to be in on top-four d-man Vladislav Gavrikov , the hulking 29-year-old who averaged 23+ minutes TOI playing all 82 games last season with the Los Angeles Kings . After Ivan Provorov re-upped with the Columbus Blue Jackets for $8.5 annually over seven years Monday, Gavrikov certainly won't come cheaply, to Nork York or elsewhere.
Most of the biggest UFAs re-signed with their teams — or in Mitch Marner's case was part of a sign a trade — before July 1. But the Rangers were never going to swim in the deepest end of the pool this summer, outside of a possible Gavrikov deal. But it'll be interesting if Drury can find ways to land a left-shot defenseman or two, a third-line center (unless the Rangers are sold on the Juuso Parssinen/Jonny Brodzinski options), or a scoring wing in free agency (or trade).
We'll follow it all here with updates and analysis on each of the Rangers moves, as well as where Blueshirt UFAs like Zac Jones and Arthur Kaliyev end up.
Related: 5 realistic Rangers options in 2025 NHL free agency, including Vladislav Gavrikov
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman confirmed that Gavrikov is "heading to market" after rejecting the Kings latest offer. Makes sense. He's one of the most attractive names remaining among unrestricted NHL free agents, regardless of position, and what team doesn't need a top-four, left-shot d-man? The Rangers will face a lot of competition here for Gavrikov, unless — as been rumored — the player badly wants to play on Broadway. Stay tuned.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have approximately $5.8 million in salary cap space , this after picking up Nicolas Roy from the Vegas Golden Knights when the traded the rights to Marner, and re-signing forward Matthew Knies to a six-year, $46.5 million contract Tuesday. Knies, 22, was an RFA, and received a whopping raise. His contract should get Cuylle's attention, since the Rangers RFA broke out with 20 goals, 45 points and 303 hits (tied for third in the NHL) last season.Whether it's an offer sheet or (more likely_ he re-signs with the Rangers, Cuylle should be looking at a significant raise coming off his entry-level contract.
Related Headlines
