Photo credit: Lohud
The New York Rangers GM Chris Drury had a long offseason ahead of him. After hiring Mike Sullivan as the new head coach, he still has a cap crunch to deal with. Drury will have to contend with what free agents are worth keeping, and whether or not the rest are chips.
The New York Rangers in 2024-2025 look like a team from a parallel universe. After winning a Presidents Trophy in 2023-2024, they gave up the fight they had before, ditching the comeback kids moniker, and rendering the phrase “No Quit in NY” useless.
Now, with Mike Sullivan at the helm, GM Chris Drury will have to figure out how to put the team back into win-now mode, with a slight retooling of the roster.
1st Round Pick Decision & Cap Space
The New York Rangers handed out attractive contracts to players like Will Borgen and Igor Shesterkin this season. In addition to having multiple free agents to sign, GM Chris Drury will have quit the burden to deal with he has to create cap space to make this happen.
Doing so may mean he gets rid of more of the former “core” Rangers team that has taken them to the playoffs in recent years, but unable to finish the job.
The team right now has a bit less than $9 million in cap space, and in order to sign their RFAs of choice, veterans will have to moved.
One of those could be Chris Kreider, who has two years left on his $6.5 million AAV deal. His production has declined significantly this season, scoring a total of 30 points while dealing with a back injury that sidelined him for some time this year.
The former 26 power-play goal scorer could be poised to be traded in July, and could find takers in the West.
Another candidate to clear up cap space would be recently acquire defenseman Carson Soucy who makes $3.25 million AAV, and whose no-trade list drops to 12 teams in July.Mika Zibanejad, who has a full no-movement clause, could once again find his name in trade talks, as his contract pays him an AAV of $8.5 million and, after a 62-point season, could benefit from a fresh start elsewhere. Of course, he’d have to approve the move given the NMC he’s earned.
GM Chris Drury will have to decide whom in the 1st-round of the 2025 NHL Draft he’s picking, as options of top talent may be limited by the time it’s their turn to draft. Names who have appeared on projected draft lists range from Carter Bear or Radim Mrtka.
Or they could simply send their pick to Pittsburgh instead of waiting till 2026 to send an unprotected pick to their division rivals. It simply depends on whether he believes Sullivan can turn the team around.
In the greater scheme things, Drury will have to decide whether or not K’Andre Miller is worth keeping around. Coming off his bridge deal, Miller is now a RFA, his play for a contract year hasn’t been the greatest.
After his 43-point season in 2022-2023, things looked up for the defenseman. This year, his production dipped to 27 points (7 goals, 20 assists) in 74 games.
While he averaged a TOI of 21:57 amidst defensive struggles plaguing him all season. The Rangers will have to simply decide whether to bridge him again in order to “prove it” and go through arbitration in order to keep his next contract around $3.72 million, which in two years would take him to UFA.
If they want to avoid all of that drama and keep a focus on his development, they could sign him to a costlier three-year deal that avoids him reaching UFA status sooner or just trading him.
Will Cuylle has been a bright spot for the Rangers this season, tallying 20 goals and 45 points as a physical, two-way forward with a goal-scoring touch.
Cuylle has more than proven his worth this season, getting promoted to the 2nd-line, and delivering 301 hits. Teams would love to have him on their roster, and he could be vulnerable to an offer sheet, which is why Drury should prioritize signing him ASAP in order to negate potential offer sheets from across the league.
Previously on NYRangersInsider