As much as we believe the Rangers and team president Chris Drury are aiming to continue their roster shakeup this summer, change won’t come easily.
The hiring of head coach Mike Sullivan should provide a jolt, but a number of roadblocks stand in the way of much-needed personnel upgrades, starting with limited salary cap flexibility.
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The good news is that the NHL’s cap ceiling will rapidly rise in the coming years. After sitting at $88 million this past season, teams will be permitted to spend up to $95.5 million in player salaries for 2025-26 − the largest jump in league history.
That will be a big help for many teams, but it may be another year before the Rangers can flex their spending might. This coming season is still looking tight, bogged down by large veteran contracts that remain on the books and a few costly extensions that are set to kick in, including an eight-year, $92 million deal that will make Igor Shesterkin the NHL’s highest-paid goalie.
Drury has worked to clear space in recent months, most notably by offloading captain Jacob Trouba and the final year of a contract that carries an $8 million average annual value. But the perception that New York is positioned to aggressively add is misguided.
In what’s become an annual offseason exercise, I’ve combed through existing and expiring contracts and laid out exactly how much space the Rangers have to maneuver. We’ll examine what’s being spent on each position throughout this story, but the general overview looks like this:
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Returning NHL players under contract: 19
Projected player salaries: $87,077,858
Available cap space: $8,422,142
With a maximum of 23 roster slots, the Rangers essentially have $8.4 million to fill three or four spots − or between $2.1 million and $2.8 million per player.
Of course, it’s not that simple. They have at least two restricted free agents who figure to cost more than that − forward Will Cuylle and defenseman K’Andre Miller − not to mention aspirations to improve a backsliding lineup that just missed the playoffs for the first time in four years.
That leaves Drury staring down a long to-do list with a lack of obvious solutions, with this breakdown providing a clearer picture of the Rangers’ tricky salary cap outlook.
Forwards
12 under contract who finished 2024-25 season on the NHL roster, listed in order of average annual value (* denotes restricted free agents with arbitration rights)
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Left wing – 1. Artemi Panarin ($11.643 million); 2. Chris Kreider ($6.5M); 3. Gabe Perreault ($941,667); 4. Brett Berard ($867,500)
Center – 1. Mika Zibanejad ($8.5M); 2. J.T. Miller ($8M); 3. Vincent Trocheck ($5.625M); 4. Sam Carrick ($1M)
Right wing – 1. Alexis Lafrenière ($7.45M); 2. Juuso Pärssinen ($1.25M); 3. Brennan Othmann ($863,334); 4. Jonny Brodzinski ($787,500)
UFAs – Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Alex Belzile, Bo Groulx, Jake Leschyshyn and Riley Nash
RFAs – Brendan Brisson, Will Cuylle, Lucas Edmonds*, Adam Edström*, Arthur Kaliyev* and Matt Rempe
Next in line – Noah Laba ($870,000), Jaroslav Chemlař ($867,500), Kalle Väisänen ($863,333), Dylan Roobroeck ($850,000), Bryce McConnell-Barker ($838,333), Adam Sýkora ($806,667) and Anton Blidh ($775,000)
Mar 22, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers left wing Alexis Lafreniere (13) skates against the Vancouver Canucks during the third period at Madison Square Garden.
Breaking it down: Don’t get caught up in the positions because that is going to be fluid. I spread the 12 forwards around to make it an even four in each spot, but there are many variables that could shift guys around.
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It starts with whether Sullivan wants to return Zibanejad to his natural center position or see if he can build on the second-half success he had at RW, which will have a trickledown effect on young wingers such as Berard, Othmann and Perreault. All three have mostly played LW, but at least one will have to switch to the right side given the state of the depth chart. Othmann finished the season there, so I kept him at RW for the time being.
A lot can change depending how the offseason plays out, but my belief at this moment is that at least one from that trio will begin the season with AHL Hartford. There simply won’t be enough ice time to justify keeping them all, which should fuel an interesting training camp competition.
For argument’s sake, let’s say Berard is the odd-man out. Let’s also bury Pärssinen in the minors. Even after signing a two-year, $2.5 million extension earlier this month, I’m not quite sure where he fits in this equation − especially with Brodzinski already here to fill the depth center role.
That would leave the Rangers with 10 forwards on the roster and boost their total cap space to $10,439,642. And while that’s an improvement from $8.4 million, Drury would still be looking at limited space to make changes. Re-signing Cuylle, Edström and Rempe would push New York up to 13 NHL forwards, leaving little room to do much else.
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That’s why many are expecting something more drastic, with Kreider believed to be first on the chopping block. If the Rangers can work around his 15-team no-trade list and clear his full $6.5 million hit, on top of the proposed demotions of Berard (or another young forward) and Pärssinen, they’d be looking at just about $17 million in available cap space.
That wouldn’t be enough for Drury to chase free agents at the very top of the market, but it should allow him to re-sign his own RFAs and add an impact role player or two from outside the organization.
If he wants to aim higher, he’ll have to get creative in finding ways to clear extra salary – and that won’t be an easy task given full no-movement clauses for his three highest-paid forwards in Panarin, Zibanejad and Miller, plus the beginning of Lafrenière’s seven-year, $52.15 million extension.
Defensemen
5 under contract who finished 2024-25 season on the NHL roster, listed in order of AAV (* denotes restricted free agents with arbitration rights)
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Left D – 1. Carson Soucy ($3.25M); 2. Urho Vaakanainen ($1.55M)
Right D – 1. Adam Fox ($9.5M); 2. Will Borgen ($4.1M); 3. Braden Schneider ($2.2M)
UFAs – Calvin de Haan, Ben Harpur and Chad Ruhwedel
RFAs – Zac Jones*, K’Andre Miller* and Matthew Robertson*
Next in line – Jackson Dorrington ($851,667), Casey Fitzgerald ($775,000), Connor Mackey ($775,000) and Brandon Scanlin ($775,000)
Apr 17, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers defenseman Will Borgen (17) shoot the puck in the third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden.
Breaking it down: The Rangers had an opportunity to re-imagine their D corps, but Drury instead opted to hand out extensions to Borgen and Vaakanainen and trade for Soucy. That trio will eat up $8.9 million in combined cap space and must now be counted out to fill critical roles following in-season trades that producing varying results.
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Miller is the only remaining loose end. He’s the clear No. 1 on a thin LHD depth chart, but he’s also battled with inconsistency and will be the priciest among New York’s RFAs at any position. It will likely require an AAV somewhere in the $5 million-to-$6 million range and set the Blueshirts up to run it back with the same group of defensemen who largely struggled this past season.
Letting Miller go might force Drury to pay even more for one of the top UFA LHD on the market, none of whom possess the upside of the talented 25-year-old. But even if the Rangers retain Miller – which, at this point, the odds are in favor of – there’s still a valid argument that they need more on D. The question is, can they afford to re-sign him while also adding another top-four option? That may be a stretch.
Maybe there’s a surprise trade out there that changes the equation, but Drury’s recent actions indicate he’s prepared to roll this group back out there and hope for a better outcome.
Goalies
2 under contract who finished 2024-25 season on the NHL roster (* denotes restricted free agents with arbitration rights)
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Starter – Igor Shesterkin ($11.5M)
Backup – Jonathan Quick ($1.55M)
UFA – Louis Domingue
RFAs – Talyn Boyko and Dyland Garand
Next in line – Callum Tung ($872,500) and Hugo Ollas ($855,000)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 22: Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers looks on during the first period against the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden on March 22, 2025 in New York City.
Breaking it down: After years as one of the NHL’s biggest bargains, Shesterkin’s record-breaking extension is about to kick in. That will force the Rangers to find cheaper alternatives at other positions, but a cap ceiling that’s expected to rise significantly in the coming seasons should lessen that strain each year.
Meanwhile, Drury decided to re-sign Quick for one more year and give him a modest raise for his age-40 season. That will block the path for Garand, who was an AHL all-star this season and remains the clear No. 3 on the organizational depth chart.
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Assuming he and Boyko re-sign, the Rangers may be comfortable letting the veteran Domingue go in free agency. Garand looks ready for his opportunity if called upon, while Boyko, Ollas and Tung can compete for the backup role with Hartford and offer depth deeper in the system.
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY Rangers’ salary cap breakdown heading into pivotal offseason