Breaking down the New York Rangers ahead of NHL Free Agency.
Pending free agents
Unrestricted: 18 | Restricted: 7 | See full list
[teamleaders league=”nhl” team=”nyr” season=”2013″]
Rangers overview
While the New York Rangers came within three wins of raising a Stanley Cup banner this year, the team’s future is clouded with uncertainty. The roster is littered with expiring contracts and it’s not entirely clear who will be back to take another run at the Cup next season.
The team’s core of Henrik Lundqvist, Rick Nash, Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal will all return, barring any blockbuster trades. Forwards Martin St. Louis, Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin and Derek Dorsett all have one year remaining on their contracts, while defenceman Kevin Klein is locked up long term. But what the Rangers roster will look like past that group is anyone’s guess.
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| Click player positions to see depth chart | ||
Areas to address
The Rangers have a lot of work to do in-house this summer as key forwards Derick Brassard, Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello are all restricted free agents who the Rangers will likely want to bring back. That’s not to mention Benoit Pouliot, Brian Boyle, Anton Stralman and Dominic Moore who are unrestricted free agents and hold much more negotiating power if the Rangers want them to return. That’s a considerable chunk of the team’s core that has the option to pursue deals on the open market in July. If general manager Glen Sather can’t ink any of them to contracts, he’ll have to dip into the free agent pool fairly heavily. Re-signing the emergent Stralman will be a priority for Sather, but there will certainly be a lot of competition for his signature.
As expected, the Rangers used a compliance buyout on Brad Richards, which gets the franchise out from under the remaining five years (at a cap hit of $6.66 million per season) of his contract. While that move frees up some cap room for Sather, it also creates another hole on his roster that will need to be filled.
Prospects Danny Kristo, Oscar Lindberg and Dylan McIlrath could be ready to contribute next season if the Rangers do experience a mass exodus of talent and are unable to replace it from outside the organization.
Possible signing targets
Anton Stralman (D): Re-signing the defenceman will likely be Sather’s biggest priority this off-season — and possibly his biggest challenge.
Dan Boyle (D): If the Rangers fail to re-sign Stralman, Boyle could fill this role for a year or two as Sather figures out a longer-term replacement.
Benoit Pouliot, Dominic Moore, Brian Boyle (F): All Rangers UFAs who fit well together and helped the Rangers get to the Stanley Cup Final.
Mason Raymond (LW): Has a connection to Alain Vigneault from their time in Vancouver and would help replace some of the forward depth the Rangers may be losing this off-season.
