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Chris Kreider

Metropolitan Notes: Devils, Tavares, Lyon, Kreider

July 8, 2016 at 3:28 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

New Jersey GM Ray Shero spoke with the media on Thursday after re-signing Kyle Palmieri to a five year deal. He mentioned that there may not be much more activity from the Devils as he would like to keep some spots open for competition in training camp for their youngsters, notes Chris Ryan of NJ.com. 2015 first round pick Pavel Zacha impressed at the junior level last year while Joseph Blandisi fared well in limited NHL action last season and both players could potentially make a run at a full-time roster spot in training camp. Shero made sure to mention that he wouldn’t rule out making any further moves between now and the start of the regular season, however.

More from the Metropolitan:

Islanders center John Tavares is more than 23 months away from becoming an unrestricted free agent but already GM Garth Snow is making plans to talk about extending his deal once the two sides can talk about a new contract in July of 2017, writes Brian Erni of Islanders Point Blank. It’s obvious why the Isles would want to get something done quickly to avoid the year-long questions and distractions that followed Tampa Bay forward Steven Stamkos throughout all of last season and into late June.
There were a dozen teams that tried to sign goaltender Alex Lyon late last season, writes Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer. One of the factors that led Lyon to ultimately sign with the Flyers is that both of their current goalies, Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth, are slated to become unrestricted free agents in the 2017 offseason which could potentially open up a spot for the 23 year old (who will be a restricted free agent next year) before too long. He’ll likely wind up in the AHL to start next season where he will battle with incumbent Anthony Stolarz for playing time.
Larry Brooks of the New York Post suggests that Palmieri’s deal could be a comparable for Rangers restricted free agent winger Chris Kreider. In the last two years, Kreider has 89 points while in that same span, Palmieri has 86. Kreider filed for arbitration earlier this week and is coming off a two year, $4.95MM deal.

Free Agent Focus: New York Rangers

June 17, 2016 at 3:56 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The New York Rangers again amassed over 100 points and made the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year in 2015-16, going 46-27-9 and just edging out the Islanders for third in the Metropolitan division. What that won them was a matchup with the eventual Stanley Cup winning Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round. As they head into the summer, they have some big questions to answer all over their club, with only 14 players under contract at the moment.

Key Restricted Free Agents: There isn’t just a single RFA that the Rangers need to worry about, there is a trio of them. LW Chris Kreider, C Kevin Hayes and RW J.T. Miller are all arbitration eligible and due for substantial raises this summer, after scoring 57 goals between them. Miller led the pack with 22 including five game winners, and racked up 43 points (tied with Kreider).

The Rangers may have some trouble with the expansion draft next year, as these three will all need protection along with Derek Stepan, Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello which will put at risk some of their other young players like Jesper Fast or Oscar Lindberg, even if they leave Rick Nash unprotected. It will be even more strained if they decide to sign any big name free agent forward, most of which would demand a NMC to come to New York.

Other RFAs: Dylan McIlrath

Key Unrestricted Free Agent: D Keith Yandle – The top blueliner on the UFA market this summer, Yandle is going to command a huge salary and will have teams lining up to offer it. After coming over in a trade from the Arizona Coyotes in 2014-15, Yandle has been one of the better defencemen in the league, putting up 58 points in a Rangers uniform.

The 29-year old will head into free agency after completing a five-year $26.25MM dollar contract he signed with the Coyotes in 2011. That cap-hit of $5.25MM is sure to go up this summer when teams bang down his door looking for a #1 defenceman. Over the last five seasons, Yandle has the 5th most points of any defenceman in the league, only trailing Erik Karlsson, P.K. Subban, Dustin Byfuglien, and Shea Weber – all of whom are earning at least $7MM next year.

Other UFAs: Dan Boyle, Eric Staal, Viktor Stalberg, Dominic Moore

Projected Cap Space: $15.33MM, 14 players under contract.

Losing Yandle and Boyle from their blueline doesn’t look good for the Rangers, who won’t have much room for free agents after the deals for their RFAs. With Dan Girardi and Marc Staal both taking a lot of heat for their poor possession numbers, the team might be in trouble defensively next season. The Penguins exploited it in the playoffs, and with Henrik Lundqvist another year older he may not be able to bail them out as much in 2015-16.

The deal for Eric Staal ended up not working out very well for the club, as he scored just six points for the club down the stretch before being held scoreless in the playoffs. Carolina has already made good use of one of the picks, dealing it to Chicago as the main piece in the Teuvo Teravainen deal two days ago.

If the team is to get back to the playoffs they’ll have to rely on their speed and skill up front, unless they make a move to shore up that back end. Look for teams to start kicking the tires on those young forwards, trying to entice one or two of them out of the Big Apple, and into their system.

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