New York Rangers Free Agency Outlook, Potential Fits

New York Rangers Free Agency Preview/Outlook, Salary Cap Situation, Restricted Free Agents, Team Needs, and Potential Fits

With a few key RFAs still to sign, the New York Rangers could be short on cash during this year’s free agency period – that is unless GM Jeff Gorton finds a way to trim salary in the coming days or shortly beyond July 1.

Last we heard, the only true untouchables were Ryan McDonagh, Henrik Lundqvist, Brady Skjei, and Pavel Buchnevich. The biggest name popping up in trade rumors is star winger Rick Nash who has one year remaining with a $7.8 million dollar cap hit.

If the Rangers are unable to find a trade partner for Nash’s massive contract, they could go to plan B.

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Maybe the Rangers think about moving one of Derek Stepan, Derick Brassard, or Marc Staal? Dan Girardi would be the obvious candidate for trade, but it’s unlikely teams would be willing to take on his contract even at 50 percent retained ($5.5 million divided by 2 = $2.75 million dollars/year).

As usual, the New York Rangers were among the top Eastern Conference teams during the regular season in 2015-16. They finished 4th in the East with a record of 46-27-9 (101 points).

Unfortunately, they drew the NHL’s hottest team in the opening round, and stood little chance against the eventual Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins falling in a mere five games.

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New York Rangers Free Agency Outlook/Preview

Salary Cap Committed to 2016-17: $57,725,000
Number of Players Signed: 30

Notable Unrestricted Free Agents: Eric Staal, Dominic Moore, Viktor Stalberg, Raphael Diaz, Luke Adam, Brian Gibbons, Nick Tarnasky

Notable Restricted Free Agents: Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes, J.T. Miller, Dylan McIlrath, Nicklas Jensen, Marek Hrivik

If GM Jeff Gorton remains fairly inactive, the Rangers will have a limited amount of money to spend in free agency. One way or another, NY needs to find a way to add another top-six forward.

Should the NYR find a way to trim extra salary in the next few days, they could target a big-ticket free agent such as Steven Stamkos.

Teams can only spend 10 percent above the salary cap during the offseason, so it’s unlikely they could afford Stammer as is, even if plans would be to trim salary afterwards.

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New York Rangers Free Agency Team Needs

Top-Six Forward Upgrade (Preferably Wingers – Unless Stepan/or Brassard is Traded), 4th Line Upgrades, Depth Forwards

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New York is set at center, unless of course someone is traded. They could however use upgrades in their top six forward group.

The team is missing a legitimate number one center, and at times had players such as Jesper Fast on the second line wing. Any time you can add an upgrade, it only helps to spread out the scoring.

The Rangers also have a hole in their bottom six, particularly the 4th line. It’s time to move on from the likes of Dominic Moore (UFA) and Tanner Glass (one year remaining) and bring in some new faces.

Lastly, the NYR should look to add depth forwards on short-term deals. These could be guys who sit in the press box or spend the majority of their time in the AHL. A thin prospect pool with a lack of NHL ready players doesn’t leave the Rangers with many options for call ups during injuries.

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Potential New York Rangers Free Agency Targets

Top-Six Forwards: Steven Stamkos, David Backes, Teddy Purcell, Andrew Ladd, Loui Eriksson, David Perron, Mikkel Boedker, Troy Brouwer, Kyle Okposo

Bottom-Six Forwards: Boyd Gordon, Jamie McGinn, Steve Ott, Nathan Gerbe, Chris Stewart, Patrick Eaves, Brett Connolly, Dale Weise, Mike Richards, Brandon Pirri, Mike Santorelli, Matt Halischuk, Tomas Fleischmann, Landon Ferraro

Depth Forwards: Quinton Howden, Lucas Lessio, Cole Schneider, Marc-Andre Cliche, Zach Boychuk, Zach Sill

*Salary/Free Agent information was obtained through www.generalfanager.com