NY Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan introduced in Tarrytown
Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan is introduced during a press conference at the MSG Training Center in Tarrytown, New York, May 8, 2025.
One of the most anticipated days on the NHL calendar has arrived, with hundreds of free agents eligible to sign with new teams once the clock strikes noon on July 1.
Outside of a salary-cap clearing trade that sent veteran Chris Kreider to Anaheim on June 12, the Rangers have been relatively quiet. Odds are that will change in the coming hours.
As previously reported by lohud.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, New York is eyeing defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov as its top target. The Blueshirts could use upgrades in other spots, as well, but cap constraints may limit their options. Team president Chris Drury is projected to have somewhere between $13 million and $15 million in available space, depending how he fills out the bottom of the roster.
Gavrikov would eat up at least half of that cap room, plus the Rangers have to account for their own top restricted free agents, forward Will Cuylle and defenseman K’Andre Miller. They’d like to retain the former and trade the latter, but neither situation had been resolved by the eve of free agency.
Drury has yet to receive an offer to his liking on the Miller front and may have to settle for a lesser return than he initially hoped, but the expectation remains it will get done at some point. I’ve heard Detroit mentioned as a possible destination by enough league sources to believe there’s legitimate interest there, so that’s a team to keep an eye on.
While trade talks continue, there’s heightened curiosity about whether general managers will be more aggressive in extending offer sheets to RFAs. It’s only happened four times in the past 12 years, but two of those instances came last summer when the St. Louis Blues snatched Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway from the Edmonton Oilers.
The Rangers might welcome an offer sheet for Miller at this stage, but they’re determined to keep Cuylle in the fold. He was one of their very few bright spots last season while bringing the blend of scoring and physicality that Drury covets.
There’s belief that the 23-year-old power winger wants to stay in New York and an expectation that a deal will get done. In the unlikely-but-not-impossible scenario in which he’d use an offer sheet to gain leverage in negotiations, the Blueshirts are equipped to match anything under the $4.68-million-per-season threshold. That’s the range where most GMs would prefer to shop because it would only require a 2026 second-round pick as draft compensation.
An offer sheet that lands between $4.68 million and $7.02 million per season would escalate that compensation to first- and third-round picks and complicate the situation. The Rangers would be hard-pressed to match without giving up their pursuit of Gavrikov or making other sacrifices, which might force them to take the draft picks and reluctantly move on. But there are serious doubts about whether another team would go to those lengths for a player with only 66 career points, especially considering the risk of surrendering a first-rounder in a 2026 draft class that will feature phenom Gavin McKenna at the top.
It all adds to the intrigue of July 1, despite the lack of household names on the market.
This collection of free agents isn’t the deepest or most talented we’ve seen, paling in comparison to what could be a star-studded 2026 class − and it’s been getting thinner by the hour.
Five of USA TODAY’s top 10 unrestricted free agents − forwards Mitch Marner (No. 1), Brad Marchand (No. 2) and Patrick Kane (No. 8) and defensemen Aaron Ekblad (No. 4) and Ivan Provorov (No. 10) − signed new contracts June 30, further diluting an already shallow UFA pool.
Still, there’s a lengthy list of teams who are motivated to improve their rosters, with the Rangers certainly among them. That should lead to a flurry of activity, be it via signings, trades or both.
This tracker will be the place to follow it all, with updates throughout the day whenever there’s news or information that pertains to the Blueshirts:
NY Rangers free agency tracker
Bookmark this page and check back for updates!
UPDATE, 4:30 p.m. − Four-and-a-half hours into free agency, we have a second Rangers signing. Center Justin Dowling has agreed a two-year, $1.55 million contract, according to PuckPedia, which carries a league minimum AAV of $775,000. It’ll be a one-way contract in the first year and two-way in the second.
The 34-year-old played a career-high 52 games for the Devils last season, notching seven points (two goals and five assists) with a minus-six rating and 10:13 average time on ice. He posted a 46.66% xGF, per Evolving Hockey, and ranked in the 59th percentile in speed bursts over 20 mph, according to NHL EDGE.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pounder projects as forward depth and could end up stashed with AHL Hartford.
UPDATE, 1:45 p.m. − Still no confirmation on the Miller trade, but one source believes the return will center around draft-pick compensation. The Hurricanes own two 2026 first-rounders, with the Rangers likely to land one of them. (Although with another asset or two.)
Sounds like the K’Andre Miller trade return will center on draft-pick compensation, according to a source. Carolina holds two first-round picks next year, with the #NYR eyeing one of them.
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) July 1, 2025
UPDATE, 1:10 p.m. − And now the Miller trade we’ve been anticipating may be coming to fruition.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that the Rangers are “working on” a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes. One source told me it’s not done yet, with details still being ironed out. Stay tuned.
UPDATE, 12:52 p.m. − We’ve been reporting for weeks that the Rangers were the favorites to land Gavrikov, and now they have. They locked up the best available defenseman with a seven-year, $49 million contract, which looks like a steal considering some of the other deals that are being handed out. Credit to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic for reporting it first.
Here’s my story on the Gavrikov signing. The Rangers are left with roughly $7 million in available cap space, with the ability to stretch that number by sending players down to the AHL.