Pro Hockey Rumors

The offseason is now fully underway after Vegas took home the Stanley Cup which means that it’s time to examine what each team will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at the Rangers.

Expectations were high for New York heading into the playoffs.  They had a solid regular season and loaded up for the playoffs, adding wingers Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane while also getting Niko Mikkola to help on the back end.  Instead of their firepower carrying the day though, they struggled to score with consistency which played a big role in their early exit at the hand of New Jersey.  One big change has already been made behind the bench but GM Chris Drury still has some work cut out for him in the coming weeks.

Finalize Coaching Staff

After a long search, the Rangers have figured out who their head coach is going to be following yesterday’s hiring of Peter Laviolette on a three-year deal worth just under $5MM per season.  Now, the team will need to finalize the rest of their staff.  Mike Kelly and Jim Midgley were let go last month along with former bench boss Gerard Gallant while Gord Murphy will now also not return.  That means the only holdover from last year’s staff is goalie coach Benoit Allaire.

It’s not entirely uncommon for a head coach to come in with a clean slate.  Two of Laviolette’s assistants from last season in Washington, Kevin McCarthy and Blaine Forsythe, also departed the Capitals and possibly resurface in similar roles with the Rangers.  It’s also possible that AHL Hartford head coach Kris Knoblauch could be promoted after four years with the Wolf Pack.  He does have two seasons as an NHL assistant under his belt in 2017-18 and 2018-19 with Philadelphia.

Having the assistants in place by free agency isn’t a necessity since Laviolette is in place but it wouldn’t be surprising to see this one get checked off within the next couple of weeks.

Clear Cap Space

At first glance, New York’s cap situation doesn’t look terrible as they project to have a little over $11.7MM in space, per CapFriendly.  However, when you consider that they have to sign eight or nine players with that money, including second contracts for a pair of core youngsters, it doesn’t take long to realize that this is going to be a problem.  They need to open up some cap room which isn’t necessarily going to be easy in an environment where many others will be looking to do the same.

At first glance, forward Barclay Goodrow seems like a possible cap casualty.  The 30-year-old has certainly come as advertised in his first two seasons with the team, providing his two best offensive seasons while still providing the grit and defensive play that endeared him to Drury in the first place.  The problem is that he carries a cap hit of just over $3.64MM.  For a bottom-six forward, that’s an above-market rate and one they can’t afford.  On top of that, he has four years left on his contract.  That will make it difficult to move him but he’s the logical one to try to trade.

If a trade involving him can’t be reached, then it gets tough.  Defenseman Ryan Lindgren and forward Filip Chytil are on either side of Goodrow on New York’s salary scale but both are important parts of their younger core.  Moving anyone making less than that isn’t going to move the needle much in terms of cap savings and going above Chytil’s contract lands you with six skaters that have full no-move clauses.

There are definitely things that are easier said than done and when it comes to opening up cap room, this is certainly one of those for the Rangers.  However, they’re going to have to bite the bullet at some point over the next few weeks; whether it’s the one they likely want to move (Goodrow) or one they don’t remains to be seen.

Re-Sign Key RFAs

A good chunk of the cap space that they have is going to go to two of their prominent restricted free agents, players that are pegged to be significant pieces of both the present roster and the future one.  Accordingly, the Rangers would like to avoid having to move either defenseman K’Andre Miller or forward Alexis Lafreniere to alleviate their cap challenges.

Miller has the better track record of the two and established himself as a fixture in the top four in his sophomore year.  This season, he was even better, more than doubling his point total from 20 to 43 while taking a bigger role in the lineup, finishing second to only Adam Fox in ice time.  As a result, even a short-term bridge contract is going to be on the pricey side, likely somewhere in the $3.5MM to $4MM range.  Meanwhile, a longer-term agreement that buys out some UFA time is likely to creep past the $6MM mark based on the year he just had.  The Rangers would undoubtedly love to give Miller that long-term contract but unless they find a way to free up significant cap room (by moving one of those six high-paid players with NMCs), they’ll be forced to go the bridge route with him, giving them some short-term flexibility with a higher price point to come when it’s up.

As for Lafreniere, the 2020 first-overall pick has yet to become a top offensive threat.  However, his production has increased over the last couple of years and with it, his playing time.  Still just 21, there’s still plenty of time to live up to his potential or at least carve out a bigger role in the lineup.  The fact that he has underachieved so far along with their cap situation completely takes a long-term contract off the table.  Lafreniere will be getting a short-term bridge deal, an arrangement both sides will be content with.  A two-year deal should check in around the $2.75MM mark while a three-year pact would push his AAV past $3MM.  It could also be suggested that if they can’t move Goodrow or clear out salary otherwise, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Lafreniere could become a cap casualty although that clearly wouldn’t be their preference.

Sign A Backup Goalie

Last summer, the Rangers decided to cut some costs in goal, moving out Alexandar Georgiev to Colorado for a trio of draft picks and signing Jaroslav Halak for less than half of what Georgiev received from the Avs.  The decision was certainly understandable; with one of the top starters in the league in Igor Shesterkin (coming off a Vezina-winning campaign) and a tight salary cap picture, going cheaper on a second-stringer made sense.

Halak worked out reasonably well for New York, posting a 2.73 GAA with a .903 SV% in 25 games and in a year that saw goal rates go up, his numbers wound up being a bit better than league average.  In the end, they got good value on their $1.5MM investment.

But Halak is 38, making him one of the oldest goaltenders in the league.  Does he have another season like that in him?  Do they want to look at other options, perhaps ones that are a bit cheaper to try to free up more room?  Internally, veteran third-stringer Louis Domingue is in the fold and is signed for the league minimum which would help from a cap standpoint but the 31-year-old hasn’t had double-digit NHL appearances since 2019-20.  The goalie market moves fast in free agency with the annual game of musical chairs often starting and ending on July 1st so Drury has a few weeks to figure out his plan and wish list on this front.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.