Free Agent Focus: New York Rangers

Free agency is now under a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Rangers.

Key Restricted Free Agents

D K’Andre Miller – No pending free agent played a bigger role in New York’s lineup than K’Andre Miller last season. He played upwards of 24 minutes a night over the course of the year, and averaged out to 22 minutes across 74 appearances. He has now averaged top-pair minutes in all five of his seasons in the NHL, and managed to score or pace for 20 points and a positive plus-minus in every year. Skepticism around Miller’s impact has grown as he’s struggled to return to the 43-point career-high he set in the 2022-23 campaign — this year scoring just 27 points. The Rangers also posted a plus-12 goal differential with Miller off the ice, versus a minus-four when he was on the ice. But even despite that stat, his down year seems more the result of struggles team-wide. At 25 years old and with five years of top-end experience under his belt, Miller will be a player worth spending for this summer. Then again, a lofty asking price could make him a candidate for offer sheet rumors.

F William Cuylle – Closely behind Miller in impact is forward Will Cuylle, who grew into a routine second-line role after beginning the season in the bottom-six. He foreshadowed a strong year from the very start – netting six points in New York’s first six games of the year – and followed up on it with a career-high 45 points in 82 games. He’s now appeared in all but one of New York’s games over the last two seasons, making him one of only four Rangers with so much action. The persistent role led to a breakout performance – and a 24-point increase in scoring – this year. For a Rangers club facing plenty of questions and change this off-season, Cuylle’s lineup role seems like a certainty. The club will likely look to lock the promising 23-year-old up as soon as they can. His early breakout will make him a candidate for a short-term or long-term offer – with the determining factor likely to end up being the Rangers’ budget.

F Adam Edstrom – New York’s remaining RFAs are headlined by bottom-liners and lineup hopefuls. Edstrom served as the team’s diligent fourth-line center for much of the year, until a lower-body injury sustained on February 1st ended his season early. Before then, Edstrom was sporting a bleak nine points in 51 games played, while adding 27 penalty minutes and a minus-five. He was the composed centerpiece on what often ended up a bruising Rangers’ fourth-line. That steadiness, and a glimmer of upside following an early end to his first full NHL season, will make Edstrom an option worth re-signing — but his minimal ice time will keep his cost low.

F Matt Rempe – Counter to Edstrom is fan-favorite Rempe. There’s no arguing what Rempe brings to the game at this point. He’s a modern-day enforcer, tasked with throwing huge hits and haymaker punches every chance he can. That may be a proper role with Rempe’s 6-foot-9, 255-pound frame – but his eight points in 42 games casts some doubt on the positives of icing him. Rempe did post a plus-seven – tied for seventh-highest on the team – even despite also recording a team-high 67 penalty minutes. That’s an interesting balance, and sticks New York with the question of whether a towering fighter is part of their vision for the 2025-26 roster. If it is, Rempe’s new deal should come at minimal cost.

D Zachary Jones – Jones took another step towards an everyday lineup role this season. He appeared in 46 games on the year – more than his 31 appearances last year – but was a routine healthy scratch and managed just one goal and 11 points. Jones voiced frustrations about the minimal playing time to Remy Mastey of Yahoo! Sports partway through the year, on the heels of recording seven of his points in 12 games in December. But the public comments didn’t sway his role by much. At 24-years-old, Jones seems reasonably ready to take on a handful more games next year, but with minimal impact his minutes will likely continued to be confined to the third-pairing. He’ll be a low-cost, low-upside, depth option for New York this summer.

F Brendan Brisson – New York acquired prospect Brendan Brisson and a 2025 third-round pick when they sent winger Reilly Smith back to the Vegas Golden Knights at the Trade Deadline. It was a timely move for Brisson, who struggled to break into Vegas’ lineup and had recorded 19 points and a minus-24 in 45 games with the Henderson Silver Knights up to that point. He boosted those numbers ever so slightly with the Hartford Wolf Pack – with six points and a minus-nine in 16 games – though questions about Brisson’s upside still remain. He was a first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and is still just 23-years-old. But a breakout will need to come sooner rather than later if he wants to find routine NHL minutes. A contract with a few years of term could do Brisson well, but his eight points in 24 NHL games could confine him to a one-year, two-way, prove-it deal.

F Arthur Kaliyev – Also needing to ’prove it’ is 23-year-old winger Arthur Kaliyev, who joined the Rangers partway through the year via waivers from the Los Angeles Kings. Fans were excited for the move at the time – hopeful that a move across the league could reignite the spark of upside he showed in his draft year. But Kaliyev wound up a healthy scratch with the Rangers after posting just four points in 14 games. He remains a high-upside, but low-floor player; propped up by his size and wrist shot, but hurt by his motor and positioning. At this point, the once fringe-first round pick will likely need to earn his keep on a dirt-cheap contract before New York commits to him long-term.

Other RFAs: F Jake Leschyshyn, F Lauri Pajuniemi, F Karl Henriksson, F Lucas Edmonds, D Matthew Robertson, G Dylan Garand, G Talyn Boyko

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Nicholas Aube-Kubel – Aube-Kubel suffered a lower-body injury in the Buffalo Sabres’ season opener on October 4th. He recovered by the end of the month, but continued to face injuries and minimal ice time throughout the rest of the year’s first half. With routine absences at the forefront of his season, Buffalo opted to waive Aube-Kubel, allowing New York to step up as the hopeful beneficiary. After netting two points in 19 games with Buffalo, the 29-year-old Aube-Kubel tacked on three scoreless games with the Rangers and one goal in three games with the Wolf Pack. It was a year to forget, but New York will hold the right to priority negotiations for a player who was once an impactful fourth-liner on the 2022 Stanley Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche. Aube-Kubel has 80 points in 304 NHL games across his career.

D Calvin de Haan – Defender Calvin de Haan was also limited in minutes this year, starting his year out on the Colorado Avalanche’s bottom-pairing before being moved to the Rangers ahead of the Trade Deadline. He appeared in just three games with New York, and managed one point and a plus-four. De Haan spoke publicly multiple times about his frustrations with not receiving ice time, even as the Rangers sustained multiple losses in a row – but his season nonetheless ended with minimal action. Of all of their pending free agents, de Haan seems like the likeliest to part with the Rangers this summer.

Other UFAs: F Riley Nash, F Alex Belzile, F Bo Groulx, D Chad Ruhwedel, D Ben Harpur, G Louis Domingue

Projected Cap Space

New York will enter the off-season with a projected $14.92MM in cap space. That should be more than enough to sign Miller and Cuylle to hardy deals that ensure their place in the next generation of the Rangers, while still leaving some space to bring back fourth-line fixtures Edstrom and Rempe. But those additions could quickly price the Rangers out of any notable moves on the open market, even after the team traded Chris Kreider’s full salary cap to the Anaheim Ducks for a no-cost return. That lack of flexibility could push the team to make some more cap-clearing moves before July 1st.

Contract information courtesy of PuckPedia. Photo courtesy of Danny Wild-Imagn Images.