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.
If you’re a Rangers fan with passable interest in the team, everything you’ve seen and heard in the last number of months leads you to believe that more changes are coming.
New York is coming off a season in which everything that could go wrong seemingly did, resulting in no playoffs for the first time in four years and the firing of head coach Peter Laviolette. But the writing was on the wall well before those disappointing outcomes, beginning with since-traded captain Jacob Trouba’s training camp declaration that the 2024-25 season was “the last crack for this core.”
By Thanksgiving, team president Chris Drury concluded that the roster had grown stale and acted unsparingly in his efforts to dismantle it. He completed eight trades from early December through the March 8 deadline, with longtime Rangers such as Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko, Ryan Lindgren, Jimmy Vesey and Trouba part of the initial purge. The sense all along was that he was laying the groundwork for more moves in the near future.
The hiring of Mike Sullivan to replace Laviolette after years of quietly coveting the two-time Stanley Cup champion was a good start, but bigger problems remain on the personnel side. There’s clear motivation to continue the retool this summer and provide Sullivan with the pieces he needs to implement his aggressive, layered forechecking system, but little salary cap room to maneuver.
If Drury wants to finish what he started and thrust the Rangers back into contention, additional trades will be required to free up the necessary space. The problem is, outside of one rather obvious veteran, it’s hard to identify where he can trim to create that flexibility.
There are a few other veterans he’d surely consider in the right deal, but they all have varying levels of trade protection they can use to block it. And while a handful of young players still hold appeal for opposing general mangers, do the Rangers want to risk watching them blossom on other teams?
The wiser play may be to wait until the summer of 2026, when the Blueshirts have ample money coming off the books and the NHL cap ceiling is projected to rise from $95.5 million all the way to $104 million. That free agent class has a chance to be the greatest in league history and Drury will want to be primed to pounce. But that would require patience, which he may not have the luxury of.
All indications are that owner James Dolan expects the team to bounce back this coming season, with Drury willing to act boldly to make it happen and already putting out feelers on a number of fronts. He should absolutely be looking under every rock for ways to improve, but figuring out which assets he can use to facilitate that process is tricky.
To that end, I’ve taken almost every player who finished the 2024-25 season on the NHL roster and grouped them into categories based on their likelihood to stay or go and the various hurdles standing in the way. It doesn’t include draft picks, of which Drury always seems willing to discuss, or lower-level prospects, instead focusing on players who are expected to impact the 2025-26 campaign.
Will that happen here or elsewhere? Let’s dive in:
The untouchablesRHD Adam FoxC/W J.T. MillerG Igor Shesterkin
Analysis: The Rangers’ core is evolving, with a handful of players already ousted while others are either on their way out or being fazed into less demanding roles. The trio listed above has emerged from the rumble and will be asked to carry the heaviest loads moving forward.
Fox is still only 27 and the clear leader on defense, while Shesterkin remains the team’s backbone as he begins a record-setting, eight-year, $92 million extension. Miller is older at 32, but he was targeted by Drury to assume the top-line center role and push the lineup in a more tenacious direction. He also has five years left on his contract, with a full no-movement clause for the next two.
Barring something very unforeseen, these three aren’t going anywhere any time soon.
Part of the multi-year planRHD Will BorgenC Sam CarrickLW/RW Gabe PerreaultC Vincent Trocheck
Analysis: Trocheck isn’t quite on the Fox/Miller/Shesterkin level, but he’s a Drury favorite and may very well end up as the team’s next captain. His NMC clause will shift to a 12-team no-trade list July 1, but the 31-year-old appears to be as locked in as anyone outside of that top group.
Borgen and Carrick are role players who also seem safe. The former was signed to a five-year, $20.5 million extension in January, while the latter gave the Rangers just what they wanted in the 4C role and has two more years left at a very manageable $1 million AAV.
I refrained from putting Perreault in the untouchable category, but he’s pretty darn close. It would take a major offer to convince Drury to trade the organization’s top prospect. He represents their best chance at developing a young, controllable playmaker for a top six that will need one in the coming seasons.
Plan to re-signLW Will CuylleLW Adam EdströmRW Matt Rempe
Analysis: There are other restricted free agents we’ll get to, but this trio of forwards are firmly in the “stay” category.
Edström and Rempe are easy ones because they won’t break the bank − both carry low qualifying offers of $813,750, according to PuckPedia − and project as fourth-line wingers for next season. They’re among the best sources of size, toughness and tenacity on a roster that’s light on those qualities and have shown enough growth in their games to merit further opportunities.
Cuylle will cost significantly more after notching 45 points, including 20 goals, and breaking the franchise record for hits in a single season. That will make him an offer sheet candidate, with the Rangers in vulnerable position if some team comes along and goes above the $2.5 million-to-$3.5 million range they’re prepared to pay him. But they’re highly motivated to keep the emerging 23-year-old around and will do everything in their power to make it happen.
On the blockLW Chris KreiderLHD K’Andre Miller
Analysis: We’ve been reporting for months that the Rangers are motivated to offload Kreider and his $6.5 million AAV this summer, and there’s no indication of a change on that front. There’s a lot to unpack there, but the bottom line is they need the cap space and have a glut of young LWs who can cheaply fill that spot. Drury will have to work around Kreider’s 15-team no-trade list, but there’s belief among league sources he’ll find a way.
Miller’s situation is more complicated. His game has been marred by inconsistency and glaring mistakes, making a long-term commitment unlikely at this stage. (My hunch is he also wants a shot at unrestricted free agency when eligible in 2027.) But the 25-year-old RFA undeniably remains New York’s best option among a weak organizational pool of left-handed defensemen.
Word is that Drury is gauging Miller’s trade market to find out if his tantalizing skill set draws an enticing offer at a time when the Rangers don’t have a ton of appealing assets to shop. That’s an appropriately thorough tactic − under these circumstances, why not measure the trade value of pretty much every player on the roster? − but he shouldn’t pull the trigger unless he has a surefire replacement in the fold.
That won’t be an easy task. In fact, I’d argue the Rangers need to add a LHD even if they re-sign Miller. It’s just hard to pinpoint other feasible candidates who would bring back a significant return.
Not on the block, but available for the right priceLW Brett BerardLW/RW Alexis LafrenièreLW Brennan OthmannRHD Braden Schneider
Analysis: There are under-performing veterans the Rangers would surely prefer to trade, as opposed to parting with one of these promising young players. But you’ve got to give to get, and this quartet still has perceived upside − and therefore trade value.
It would take something very substantial to coax Drury into moving on from either Lafrenière or Schneider. He’s already walled them off in previous trade talks, most recently by saying no to the Canucks when they asked for Schneider as part of the J.T. Miller deal. The clear preference is to keep the 23-year-old on Broadway, but they have Fox and Borgen blocking him on the depth chart for years to come. What if a third-pairing defenseman could net a difference-making forward?
Meanwhile, Lafrenière is less than eight months removed from signed a seven-year, $52.15 million extension. That left no doubt about the Rangers’ plans to move forward with the former No. 1 overall pick, but everything that’s transpired since then has cast doubt on that contract. His offensive production fell off a cliff for the rest of the season and his all-around play was spotty, at best.
That left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth − including Lafrenière, who said at breakup day on April 21, “I struggled to be consistent in my game and didn’t really make a difference, so I’m obviously disappointed in my year.” The Rangers may be having buyer’s remorse, but they also recognize that opposing GMs will try to take advantage of that.
Selling low would be a mistake, but if a team comes along that’s still willing to pay a premium for Lafrenière, Schneider or almost any other young player, Drury will have to think long and hard. It’s unlikely, but it’s one of the few paths to meaningful change on a roster that’s otherwise bogged down by veterans with no-trade clauses.
Open to trading, but trouble finding takersLHD Zac JonesLHD Matthew RobertsonLHD Carson Soucy
Analysis: The Rangers would like to upgrade their defense, but they’ll need to subtract to make room − and especially cap space − for any newcomers. Unfortunately for them, there doesn’t appear be many takers for the trio on this list.
Soucy was acquired prior to the March 8 trade deadline to be part of the solution, but his shaky play raised questions about where he fits in the puzzle. It will also make it nearly impossible to shed his $3.25 million AAV while recouping the value of the third-round pick they sent to Vancouver to get him. The likely scenario is he stays, with the Rangers banking on Sullivan to get more out of the 30-year-old veteran.
Jones and Robertson are among the final remnants from a 2019 draft class that has not aged well. They’ve withered away on the vine, with the Rangers lacking enough faith to play them regularly (or at all in Robertson’s case) but failing to capitalize on a trade while they still had some prospect glow. Both likely would have been dealt already if any palatable offers were made in the last 12 months, but interest around the league seems to have seriously waned.
No-movement zoneLW Artemi PanarinC/RW Mika Zibanejad
Analysis: Two of the biggest contracts on the Rangers’ books are also two of the biggest reasons they’ll be limited in their roster flexibility this summer.
It’s plausible that one (or both) would on the trade block if there weren’t any contractual protections to work around. Both Panarin and Zibanejad hold full no-movement clauses, which means no transaction − be it trade or otherwise − can be completed without their consent.
It’s also plausible, perhaps even likely, that Drury has inquired about whether Panarin or Zibanejad would be open to a trade. But all indications are that it would be difficult to convince either of them.
Freeing up their cap space − a team-high $11.643 million for Panarin, who’s entering the final year of his deal, and $8.5 million for Zibanejad, who has five years remaining − would allow Drury to aggressively change the complexion of the lineup. But until we hear otherwise, we should assume that’s off the table.
One more year with Panarin is probably a good thing from an on-ice standpoint. He remains the driving force of the Rangers’ offense, having led the team in scoring in each of his six seasons in New York. It’s Zibanejad who registers as a larger concern, especially given all the years remaining on his contract.
The 32-year-old has seen his production drop the past two seasons, with his confidence taking an even steeper decline at times. That’s added incentive to move on, but if he’s not amenable, the Rangers will be left to hope Sullivan can unlock some of the old Mika Magic.
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.