You’ve heard plenty of NHL players say it: “We’re close.” They all feel they have the right group to win a Stanley Cup — even if their team went out in the first round.
The New York Rangers said it a lot on Tuesday, and they can back it up. After a six-game loss to the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference final, the last five all one-goal games, there isn’t much doubt in the locker room that the Rangers as currently constructed can win.
The offseason changes things for every team, so we’ll see what GM Chris Drury has in mind. Here’s our look at who stays and who might be headed out as the Rangers disperse for the summer.
Staying for sure
Artemi Panarin
Panarin was the Rangers’ best player in the regular season and has a full no-movement clause. He’s not going anywhere, even if you don’t love his postseason game.
Mika Zibanejad
His production against the Panthers wasn’t what it needed to be, but losing him would create a massive hole on the roster. Top-six centers are hard to find. Plus, he has a full no-movement clause.
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Vincent Trocheck
He was arguably the Rangers’ best skater in the playoffs and, like the previous two, has a full no-movement clause.
Adam Fox
Fox is a franchise right-shot defenseman who has won a Norris Trophy and been a runner-up for another. When teams get players like him, they hold on tight. That’s what the Rangers will do with the 26-year-old.
K’Andre Miller
Miller has proven he’s a top-four defenseman and he has another year on his current $3.872 million cap hit before he reaches restricted free agency with arbitration rights. His move to a pairing with Braden Schneider offered a preview of what could be the Rangers’ top five-on-five pair for a long time. There are certainly times when Miller’s game seems too raw for a player with 294 NHL games under his belt, but giving up on him now would be a fairly large mistake by Drury and the Rangers.
Braden Schneider
The Rangers gained more and more faith in Schneider as the year went on, and he could start next season as the team’s second-pairing right defenseman. He’s an RFA who’ll be due an interesting raise given his usage but this next contract won’t be a bank-breaker for sure.
Igor Shesterkin
He’s not going anywhere except to the bank to cash one of those oversized checks. It may come this summer or sometime next season, but Shesterkin is in line to become the highest-paid goalie in the NHL — maybe the highest-paid goalie ever. These playoffs left no doubt the Rangers need Shesterkin in net.
Chris Kreider
Even though his no-move clause becomes a 15-team no-trade clause on July 1, it’s hard to not only envision Kreider, who just wrapped his 12th full season here, playing elsewhere but also what the Rangers would be able to get back in a trade package for a 33-year-old with three years left on his deal.
In his fourth season with the Rangers, Alexis Lafrenière finished with 57 points in 82 regular-season games and 14 points in 16 playoff games. (Brad Penner / USA Today)
Alexis Lafrenière
One year can make a huge difference. Lafrenière now looks like a foundational piece after a 57-point regular season and an even stronger postseason. He had eight goals and 14 points in 16 playoff games. “I think he’s a superstar in the making,” Trocheck said.
Filip Chytil
There are certainly questions about Chytil’s future, given his six-month absence due to a concussion this season. It was a pleasant surprise he was able to return and play six playoff games so there’s definitely more hope he can be his normal self going forward. That cloudy future almost certainly erases any chance another team would want to trade for the 24-year-old this offseason.
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Will Cuylle
Cuylle showed he’s an NHL-level player as a rookie, playing in all but one game all season. Having affordable players like him on entry-level deals is essential.
Matt Rempe
Rempe quickly won over the Rangers fan base and Peter Laviolette seems to appreciate him, too. The coach played him in 11 postseason games. Like Cuylle, he’s on an entry-level contract. There are plenty of elements of his game to improve, but he seems to have worked his way into the Rangers’ plans. He’ll spend his offseason in Calgary.
“I’m going to work at every single part of my game,” said Rempe, who specifically mentioned his skating, puck play and fighting as elements he wants to work on. “I want to bring more to the table. I want to be a guy who can play 8-12 minutes every night. … I want to be really good defensively. I want to eventually be a penalty killer. I’ve just got to earn all these things.”
Jimmy Vesey
He’s a reliable bottom-six winger who can slot into the top six when needed for a game or two. Most important for the Rangers, he’s on a team-friendly $800,000 average annual value deal.
Jonny Brodzinski
Midway through the season, New York signed Brodzinski to a contract extension through next season. He’s a solid depth player on a cheap contract who figures to be around.
Jonathan Quick
The Rangers already committed to another year of Quick, signing him to a one-year extension in March. He’s a locker room favorite and had a .911 save percentage in 27 games as the team’s No. 2 goalie.
Likely returning
Jacob Trouba
Hearing he had a “kidney bean-sized” chunk of bone knocked out of his ankle that caused him to miss nearly four weeks of the season in March may make some put away the pitchforks — even if Trouba said the ankle wasn’t an issue in the playoffs, his play dipped so precipitously that it had to be a factor — but the Rangers captain is the big “will he or won’t he” decision for Drury this summer.
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There might be some interest in a trade, provided the Rangers attach an asset or retain some of the $8 million cap hit Trouba has over the next two years. But choosing to trade a core player who was named captain just two years ago involves more than just finding a trade partner.
Barclay Goodrow
His hot postseason was a reminder that it’s hard to find money players like Goodrow, even though his four-goal regular season wasn’t up to par. His playoff hot streak could bring a couple of trade partners around, though three more years at a $3.642 million cap hit for a fourth-line player is a big chunk to take on. If the Rangers have designs on adding a big forward piece, Goodrow could be a buyout candidate. But if they have designs on winning a Stanley Cup, they might need him.
Ryan Lindgren
Lindgren is due a new contract as a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. The Rangers will have to figure out how much they’re willing to pay him and for how long, especially given the toll his body takes every year.
He’s a heart-and-soul player who is paired with Fox, and he’s confident he and the Rangers will work out a deal.
“I love the guys here, I love the city, how loyal the fans are and how much they care about us,” he said. “I love being here and it’s definitely where I want to be.”
Zac Jones
He played well enough during Trouba’s absence and perhaps it’s time for the 23-year-old to get a longer look on a third pair next season — and some second-unit power-play time to really emphasize his skill set.
After a disappointing season, how much would the Rangers be willing to spend on Kaapo Kakko? (Dennis Schneidler / USA Today)
Up in the air
Kaapo Kakko
Kakko is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. And though the 23-year-old had a disappointing season and was a healthy scratch once in the playoffs, he told reporters Tuesday that he likes everything about the Rangers. “I like it here,” he said.
The Rangers have to decide how much they are willing to spend on Kakko this offseason. Evolving-Hockey projects him to get a two-year, $2.774 million AAV contract, which feels a little pricey for the Rangers given their salary-cap situation. If Drury doesn’t want to keep him, there are likely teams that would be willing to trade for the wing. He was the No. 2 pick in 2019 and could benefit from more consistent ice time. Even if his offense never pops, he’s a reliable third-line player.
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Erik Gustafsson
Gustafsson looked like one of the best bargain-bin free-agent signings back in November when he slid into Fox’s spot for 10 games and the team didn’t miss a beat. He had 19 points in his first 30 games and then 12 over the final 46 games he played, followed by an ineffective postseason. He’s bounced around so much that anything beyond another low-cost, one-year deal seems unlikely on the open market, so he could be back on the cheap to compete with Jones for the No. 6 defenseman spot. But if the Rangers want an upgrade, that wouldn’t be a shock either.
Likely gone
Alex Wennberg
He filled the No. 3 center role nicely after the Rangers got him from the Seattle Kraken before the trade deadline, but unless he wants to take a decent pay cut to be the No. 4 center, there doesn’t seem to be a steady role for him here with Chytil likely to occupy a center spot behind Zibanejad and Trocheck.
It certainly seems he wants to stay, even though there are better opportunities for him in free agency.
“I’m feeling what’s important for me is to pick what I think is right,” Wennberg said. “At the moment, me and my wife are going to figure it out. Right now my mindset and focus has been playing here for the Rangers. I feel like I’m still here. I’m going to do that until we see what happens.”
Jack Roslovic
Roslovic struggled in the Florida series, and he wasn’t able to seize the top-line right-wing position alongside Kreider and Zibanejad. Even if there’s mutual interest in a return, he’ll probably want more money than New York is willing to give him. This deadline addition appears like it’ll go down as a pure rental.
“It was awesome,” Roslovic said of his experience in New York. “Picking up, moving and coming to a city like this with a great culture and great fans, unbelievable fans, unbelievable teammates and getting to play in the best arena in the world, it was incredibly special.”
Blake Wheeler
His “I don’t know” on Tuesday when asked if he wants to play next season is pretty telling. It didn’t go the way he’d hoped in New York after the Winnipeg Jets bought him out last offseason, but if this is it for Wheeler, it’s a very impressive career: 1,172 games, 943 points and almost certainly his number going to the rafters in Winnipeg.
Chad Ruhwedel
The Rangers acquired Ruhwedel for depth at defense, but he played only five regular-season games for New York and zero in the playoffs. Jones was ahead of him in the pecking order.
(Top photo of Barclay Goodrow celebrating with teammates: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
