Free Agent Focus: New York Rangers
Free agency is less than 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 have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Rangers.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Alexis Lafrenière – Just under three years ago the Rangers watched the lottery balls bounce their way as they were fortunate enough to win the sweepstakes for Lafrenière. At the time the 21-year-old looked like a can’t miss first overall pick having been dominant in the QMJHL and the World Juniors. But now just three years later the Rangers are facing quite the dilemma with the young forward. On one hand he is one of their few valuable trade chips, however, given their cap crunch his cap hit will likely give them a functional player on a reasonable contract.
Lafrenière has played a lot of bottom six minutes and hasn’t really seen the offensive opportunities that other first overall picks have had, however he also hasn’t shown the same skill level or skating as some of the other first overall picks before him.
Lafrenière had a career high 39 points this season in 81 games and did a much better job driving play than he had in previous seasons. However, he also enjoyed much more favorable deployment than in previous seasons which leads one to wonder if he will have better numbers in a different role under a new head coach.
Regardless of who is signing his checks next season Lafrenière is likely to be playing under a two- or three-year bridge deal with a cap hit like the $2.1MM that teammate Kaapo Kakko is playing under.
D K’Andre Miller – Miller’s next contract is going to make for a very interesting negotiation. He is the Rangers best left shot defenseman and played at a very high level for the past two seasons including this past year where he posted nine goals and 34 assists in 79 games. While 43 points total isn’t elite for a defenseman, his 38 even strength points are. Miller saw very little powerplay time and still managed to post very strong offensive numbers.
While his offensive numbers are good, he and partner Jacob Trouba went through some long stretches this season where they couldn’t keep the puck out of their own net. While they turned it around, Miller’s defensive struggles could work against him in negotiations. It’ll be interesting to see how the Rangers navigate their negotiation with the 23-year-old St. Paul native. It’s unlikely they will give him the Rasmus Dahlin contract at a cap hit of $6MM, but an average annual value between $4MM and $5.5MM seems very possible.
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Patrick Kane – The Rangers acquired the three-time Stanley Cup champion at the trade deadline this past winter and while things didn’t end up the way they’d hoped, they didn’t give up a lot of assets to acquire the player. Kane recently had surgery to resurface his hip and will be ready to play in 4-6 months. He makes for a curious free agent because any team that fancies themselves a contender likely won’t give out a big cap number until they can see skate again after his recovery. If this is the case, Kane could wait until after his recovery to see who the contenders are next season before inking a deal. The issue there for Kane would be that most teams will be close to the cap ceiling by the time the seasons starts. Kane is still a very productive forward (when healthy), this past season he put up 21 goals and 36 assists in 73 games during the regular season and followed it up with a goal and five assists in seven playoff games. If he were healthy Kane would probably be looking at a three-year deal worth around $6MM. But, because of his injury I think he will need to wait and sign a one-year deal closer to the start of the season or in season once he has recovers from his injury.
F Vladimir Tarasenko – Tarasenko arrived from St. Louis to a lot of fanfare in New York but couldn’t help the Rangers get over hump in the Eastern Conference. The 31-year-old put up 18 goals and 32 assists in 69 games split between the Blues and the Rangers and struggled in the playoffs putting up just four points in seven games. The Rangers would probably like to sign Tarasenko to a short-term deal but given their lack of cap space they likely can’t pursue the winger. Tarasenko will be interesting negotiation as he struggled to drive play last season and isn’t the player he once was. He’ll still find work, and a good little pay day, but it won’t be at anything close to the $7.5MM he made on his previous deal.
G Jaroslav Halák – It’s hard to believe that Jaro Halák is still chugging along at the tail end of his NHL career. He has struggled in recent years, but the veteran continues to find work in the NHL on one-year contracts. Halak hasn’t posted a .905 save percentage in any of the past three seasons but has been able to stay slightly above average in expected save percentage. Currently Halák is a good backup option for a team that is looking for average goaltending 20-25 nights of the year. He will likely be able to fetch a one-year contract at around $1MM.
Other UFAs: Niko Mikkola, Tyler Motte
Projected Cap Space
The Rangers emerged from a quick rebuild just a few seasons ago and had plenty of draft capital and a lot of salary cap flexibility. Now just a few years later the Rangers are in a very precarious salary cap situation as they have just $11.8MM in cap space with 14 players signed for next year. While that is a bit alarming, the good news for New York fans is that most of the core is signed for at least the next two years to fairly reasonable contracts. That being said, there are a few deals that general manager Chris Drury would probably like the opportunity to dump should an opening arise.
The club likely won’t have room to extend Kane or Tarasenko without moving out a very good player and given the age of both players they may want to pass on doing so. The Rangers are also two years out from having to give superstar netminder Igor Shesterkin a new deal, one which could potentially eclipse $9MM annually if he can duplicate his 2021-22 season in the next two seasons. With all of that going on, it’s unlikely that there will be big changes this summer on Broadway.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Radko Gudas Won’t Return To Game 2
The Score is reporting that Florida Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas won’t be returning to game 2 tonight after taking a reverse hit in the first period from Vegas Golden Knights forward Ivan Barbashev. There was no penalty on the play and Gudas immediately went down the tunnel after leaving the ice.
Florida had elected to dress 11 forwards and 7 defensemen for the game tonight as Gudas was nursing a lingering issue and wasn’t 100%. Casey Fitzgerald drew into the lineup to supplant Gudas even before the hit in the first period. It’s no wonder Gudas is hurting as he leads the playoffs with 79 hits thus far to go along with his three assists in 17 games.
Gudas celebrated his 33rd birthday today and given the current score of tonight’s game and his current injury status, it couldn’t have been the birthday the Czech native was hoping for when he woke up this morning. Florida has made little known about Gudas at this time, but given the way these injuries have been dealt with in these playoffs it is likely that Gudas will be re-evaluated tomorrow before any new news is released.
Free Agent Focus: New York Islanders
Free agency is now a little less than a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens up. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the New York Islanders.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Oliver Wahlstrom – Only known to the public as a lower-body injury, the injury sustained by Wahlstrom on December 29th against the Columbus Blue Jackets would keep him out for the rest of the regular season. Before then, Wahlstrom was on pace for the best offensive season of his career, scoring seven goals and nine assists in 35 games. Failing to average over 13 minutes of ice time a night in his first couple of seasons with the Islanders, Wahlstrom has yet to put up the numbers relative to his draft selection at 11th overall in 2018.
There is no question that Wahlstrom still holds plenty of talent as a younger player in the NHL, but may need to add some more defensive prowess to his game to fully succeed with the Islanders. Arguably already having a complete top-six after the acquisition of Bo Horvat, Wahlstrom is surely poised for third-line minutes next year, while possibly garnering some minutes on New York’s second powerplay unit.
In Wahlstrom’s favor, being only 22 years old, he is one of the youngest players on the Islanders’ roster, including Bolduc and Simon Holmstrom, giving New York ample enough time to mold him into the player they need him to be. As Josh Bailey seems to be ending his tenure with the Islanders in the near future, Wahlstrom may have access to more playing time if he stays healthy.
Other RFAs: D Samuel Bolduc, F Collin Adams, F Blade Jenkins, D Bode Wilde, G Jakub Skarek
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Zach Parise – At already 37 years old when he first signed with the Islanders, there were not very high expectations for Parise heading into the 2021-22 season. Nevertheless, in just over 15 minutes of ice time a game, Parise scored 15 goals and 20 assists, finishing seventh on the Islanders in scoring.
This year, at age 38, Parise impressed even further, finishing the season with 21 goals and 13 assists, finishing third on the Islanders in goal-scoring. Far from the player he was after finishing fifth in the race for Hart Memorial Trophy in 2009, being able to score 20 goals in the NHL is no small feat.
In early April, it was reported that Parise was planning on playing in the NHL next year, and it will most likely be in New York once again. However, if he is able to keep up his impressive depth scoring, Parise might have interest from other teams this offseason that are closer to contending for the Stanley Cup. 
D Scott Mayfield – One of the more unheralded defensemen on the Islanders, Mayfield has quietly had an impressive career in New York. Not receiving the same amount of name recognition as Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech, or Noah Dobson, Mayfield has become one of the better two-way defensemen on the roster.
In 82 games this season, Mayfield scored six goals and 18 assists, earning 168 blocked shots and 107 hits in the process. Averaging over 21 minutes a night, Mayfield also sat second on the Islanders in Defensive Point Shares at 4.5, 0.1 behind Pulock for the team lead.
F Pierre Engvall – Acquired at the trade deadline in order for the Toronto Maple Leafs to have cap space for other moves, Engvall became a solid addition to New York’s bottom six. In 18 games wearing the orange and blue, Engvall scored five goals and four assists. His possession rates were also above average, earning a Corsi For % of 57.5 for the Islanders this season.
Other UFAs: D Parker Wotherspoon, G Semyon Varlamov, F Cole Bardreau, F Jeff Kubiak, F Richard Panik, G Cory Schneider
Projected Cap Space
Headed into the offseason, the Islanders will have about $5.33 in cap space, more than enough to bring Parise and Mayfield back into the mix. With the addition of Horvat, New York does not have any pressing needs besides finding a backup goaltender, unless Varlamov is interested in taking a substantial pay cut.
Due to the injury and subpar performance from Wahlstrom over the last four seasons, the team should also have no problem retaining him as well. Also, if the Islanders take the buyout option with Bailey, the team will free up around $2.3MM in 2023-24, giving them a bit more financial flexibility.
If New York is to remain healthy, there should not be many holes to plug in this roster. With Horvat, Pelech, Pulock, and Mathew Barzal all signed to long-term extensions, the only other extension the team will need to worry about is goaltender Ilya Sorokin in the near future.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Latest On Alex DeBrincat
After recently reporting that the Ottawa Senators were open to all options with all-star forward, Alex DeBrincat, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the Senators are now fully examining the trade market for the young forward. A restricted free agent this offseason, DeBrincat is due a $9MM qualifying offer, a number that few teams are going to be able to absorb.
On the first day of last year’s draft, the Senators acquired DeBrincat from the Chicago Blackhawks for a package including the seventh overall pick, the 39th overall pick, and the Senators’ third-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. Just after earning a 40-goal season with Chicago, Ottawa was hoping that DeBrincat would be the jolt of offense the team needed to get back to the playoffs.
Although starting off slow in Canada’s capital, DeBrincat finished the 2022-23 season with respectable numbers for his standards. In 82 games played, DeBrincat scored 27 goals and 39 assists, also providing the Senators with 109 hits, showing off a lot of physicality.
Ottawa has shown quite a bit of interest in signing DeBrincat to a long-term extension, but he has shown little to no inclination to sign a deal to remain with the Senators, as the team is now going through a change in ownership. Understandably, with the ownership of the team still in doubt, DeBrincat is wary of sticking around long-term in that situation.
For teams that have the cap space available, and should be in a position to be a consistent playoff contender in the near future, look towards two Atlantic-division rivals for the Senators, the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings. This season, Buffalo was much closer to the playoffs than the Red Wings, and still has a long-term extension to work out with stud defenseman, Rasmus Dahlin. Nevertheless, DeBrincat would surely make the Sabres’ offense almost impossible to defend against, and with the cap space reportedly growing after next season, they would be able to fit DeBrincat into the long-term outlook.
For Detroit, DeBrincat makes perfect sense as the big-name acquisition that fans have been waiting on for years. Growing up in Farmington Hills, MI, DeBrincat gives the team a right-handed shooting forward that carries high-octane offense, something that the team has been missing for quite some time. As the Red Wings’ depth of prospects make the jump to the NHL over the next several seasons, Detroit has the cap space available to them to make DeBrincat a big part of their future.
Coaching Notes: Roy, Flames, Strand
As the New York Rangers remain on the search for a new head coach, an interesting name appeared in rumors. Patrick Roy, who has been the head coach of the QMJHL Quebec Remparts for the last five seasons, recently winning the 2023 Memorial Cup, was thought to be a proper candidate to take over for the Rangers behind the bench.
Today, Mollie Walker of the New York Post, reports that New York is not considering Roy for the role, and he will not be given an interview for the position. Although Roy has indicated this year will be his last in Quebec, it was unknown whether or not he was interested in the Rangers head coaching position. Aside from a three-year stretch as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche in the mid-2010s, Roy has been involved with the Remparts in some fashion since 1997.
Currently, the Rangers are only one of two teams without a head coach for the 2023-24 NHL season, joining the Calgary Flames. In recent reporting, it appears that New York has whittled their list down to two candidates, John Hynes, and Peter Laviolette. Up to this point, there have been no links drawn between Roy and Calgary, but they still remain in the early stages of their search compared to New York.
Other notes:
- Continuing on with the Flames’ head coaching search, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation reports that Calgary is down to “4-5 candidates” and will begin the second round of interviews this week. With two major positions to fill this summer, it is not surprising that the Flames are taking a bit longer to fill their head coaching role, after naming former player Craig Conroy as General Manager late last month. Calgary appears to have a desire for a newer face in the league, likely eliminating names like Laviolette, Gerard Gallant, and Bruce Boudreau from contention.
- Today, USA Hockey announced the head coach of their 2023 United States U18 Select Team, which will be competing in the 2023 Hlkina Gretzky Cup. Luke Strand, who was also recently named head coach of the Minnesota State University men’s team, replacing the void left by Mike Hastings, who took a job at the University of Wisconsin, will take over behind the bench. It has been quite the rise for Strand over the last several years. After having spent five seasons as the head coach of the Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL, he spent last season as an assistant coach for Ohio State University.
Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Emil Martinsen Lilleberg
The coffee must be good in Tampa Bay today, as Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois has announced his third signing of the day. Per the team, the Lightning have signed Norwegian defenseman Emil Martinsen Lilleberg to a two-year, two-way contract.
Lilleberg was part of the Arizona Coyotes organization until four days ago, when the team let his exclusive draft rights expire by not signing him to an entry-level contract. Arizona drafted Lilleberg with the 107th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.
The 22-year-old left-shot defender was drafted out of Norway’s top league, a rarity among an already rare class of Norwegian nationals. Since his draft year, though, he’s made the move to the more competitive SHL, playing the last two seasons with IK Oskarshamn.
Lilleberg recently committed to SHL club Växjö Lakers HC for the 2023-24 season, so it remains to be seen whether Tampa Bay will loan him there for the first year of his contract. While he may still have some upside, he won’t be ready to see NHL ice in any event next year.
He’s represented Norway at the highest possible level of international competition for six straight years, including three World Championships, two U20 World Juniors, and two U18 World Juniors. Last year with Oskarshamn, Lilleberg recorded three goals and 11 points in 46 games, along with a -4 rating.
If he does come to North America next year, he’ll be headed to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch.
Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Jake Christiansen To Extension
A busy day on the NHL signing wire continues, as the Columbus Blue Jackets have signed defenseman Jake Christiansen to a one-year, two-way contract extension. Columbus didn’t disclose the details of the deal.
Christiansen has amassed 32 games of NHL experience over the past two seasons, proving himself to be a callup option when injuries strike. The 23-year-old is still developing and will fight for NHL time with Columbus’ growing group of young defenders.
24 of those 32 appearances came last season as injuries decimated the team. He recorded four assists in those outings, strictly playing depth minutes.
With healthy seasons from Nick Blankenburg, Jake Bean, and Adam Boqvist next year, though, it seems unlikely Christiansen will build much on his NHL experience to date. The undrafted free agent signing has shown significant offensive upside in the minors, but he simply doesn’t have the NHL ceiling of other players in the Columbus system.
If he does make it to the NHL full-time someday, it would likely be as a bottom-pairing player with power-play time. He has an accurate finish from the back end and is smart with breakout passes, but he doesn’t have much to write home about in his defensive game.
Christiansen is entering his fourth campaign with the Blue Jackets organization after five seasons spent with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips.
Arizona Coyotes Sign Patrik Koch
The Arizona Coyotes announced today the team has signed defenseman Patrik Koch to a one-year entry-level contract. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Koch, 26, brings a wealth of international professional experience to the Coyotes organization. In 2022-23 with HC Vítkovice in the Czech Extraliga, the Slovak defender recorded three goals and nine assists for 12 points in 46 regular season games. In the playoffs, Koch contributed two goals and two assists in 16 games while amassing 17 penalty minutes.
A physical, shutdown defenseman, Koch provided some unexpected offense for Slovakia at the 2023 Men’s World Championship. Koch notched a goal and three assists in seven games, leading all Slovak defensemen in scoring.
Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong had this to say about the signing:
We are very pleased to have Patrik join our organization. He is a competitive, defensive defenseman with good puck moving capability and was an integral contributor to the Slovak National Team’s defense for many years. We look forward to seeing him in training camp.
Standing at 6-foot-1 and weighing 190 pounds, Koch spent the last three seasons with Vítkovice, accumulating six goals and 17 assists for 23 points in 156 career Extraliga regular-season games. Koch also played eight games with HC Kometa Brno between 2015 and 2017, where he was briefly teammates with Coyotes goaltender Karel Vejmelka.
The Coyotes have been active in terms of bringing over European free agents in recent seasons, but most of them ended up playing marginal NHL roles at best. Koch is likely destined for AHL Tucson to start the season and will need to work his way up the depth chart to make his NHL debut.
Anaheim Ducks Name Greg Cronin Head Coach
The Anaheim Ducks have named veteran assistant Greg Cronin the team’s 11th head coach in franchise history, as announced Monday morning. At age 60, this is Cronin’s first role as an NHL head coach.
Cronin has held head coaching roles at the NCAA and AHL levels, including the past five seasons with the Colorado Eagles. With the hiring, the Colorado Avalanche are now in the market for an AHL head coach.
His previous NHL experience came with the New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs. Cronin’s first NHL work came with the Isles in 1998, hired as an assistant coach before being named the team’s director of player development (as well as head coach of the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers) in 2003. After the 2004-05 lockout, though, Cronin returned to the college ranks as the head coach of Northeastern University, a title he held six seasons. He won the Hockey East Coach of the Year award in 2008-09.
In 2011, Cronin returned to NHL coaching by taking an assistant job with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Three seasons later, he returned to the Islanders for a four-year stint on their bench before heading to the Eagles in 2018.
He replaces the outgoing Dallas Eakins, who the Ducks decided not to retain with his contract expiring this offseason. Eakins’ fourth season behind the Ducks bench ended in last place, with Anaheim allowing the most goals against per game of any team in the past 25 years.
Cronin’s hire is thinly veiled as a targeted approach to address their defense. While he could be described as a firebrand personality, he’s regarded as one of the more detail-oriented coaches at the minor league level and should focus on developing the all-around games of Anaheim’s young talent.
Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek alluded to that in a statement:
While we did cast a wide net in searching for the next head coach, it became clear to me that Greg would be the ideal fit for the position. Being a young team, I felt we needed a teacher of the finer points of the game, and someone who has worked extensively over time with talented young players, helping them develop into successful NHL players. Greg has done all that and more, and we are excited to name him head coach of the Anaheim Ducks.
Cronin hasn’t had much to work with in terms of prospects during his time with the Eagles, so it’s unfair to judge him on his development of young players into NHL talents at the pro level. However, that’s the task he’ll have to take on as the Ducks look to gain some forward momentum in their rebuild.
Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Wallteri Merelä
The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Waltteri Merelä to a one-year, two-way contract, the team said Monday. It’s the team’s first undrafted free agent signing of the offseason.
Merelä, 24, spent 2022-23 with Liiga club Tappara, recording 15 goals and 33 points in 41 games while capturing his second consecutive Liiga championship. The right-winger was under contract with Tappara for 2023-24 but will now head stateside.
Merelä is quite the late bloomer, not even getting a look in Finland’s U20 league during his draft year, 2015-16. He’s pushed his development into overdrive since, however, and has showcased himself as one of the top U25 forwards in the Liiga.
He briefly appeared for Finland at this year’s Men’s World Championship, scoring a goal in one appearance, a 7-1 win against Hungary.
Merelä does have a decent chance to crack Tampa’s opening night roster, with some holes bound to be created in their forward corps by free-agent departures. Alex Killorn, Corey Perry, and Pierre-Édouard Bellemare are all pending unrestricted free agents and could either retire or price themselves out of a return.
He has proper size at 6-foot-2 and 196 pounds, and he does have a fair amount of physicality to his game. At first glance, he appears well-suited for a bottom-six role in head coach Jon Cooper’s system.