As the NHL moves ahead with its Return to Play plan, Last Word on Hockey is taking a look towards the offseason. In terms of building a franchise, the offseason is the most crucial time of the year for front offices. However, due to COVID-19, the short-term future of how this operates has seen sweeping changes. How teams respond to a multitude of changes this fall remains to be seen. This series attempts to examine what choices teams may have to make.
The second batch of Offseason Primers will feature Metropolitan Division squads. Today’s edition delves into the possibilities surrounding the New York Rangers offseason.
New York Rangers Offseason Primer
Pending Free Agents
After last summer where general manager Jeff Gorton made big news by signing Artemi Panarin, the Rangers can’t let their foot off the gas this year. They have a few youngsters in need of new deals and have quite a few depth pieces and minor league players on expiring contracts as well. To add misfortune to the Rangers’ situation, most of their important restricted free agents are eligible for arbitration. Those names include Ryan Strome, Anthony DeAngelo, Brendan Lemieux, Alexandar Georgiev, Phillip di Giuseppe, Darren Raddysh, and Cristoval Nieves. Their list of RFAs that are not eligible for arbitration consists of Ryan Gropp, Brandon Crawley, Dawson Leedahl, and Gabriel Fontaine.
The Rangers’ plate of unrestricted free agents isn’t to be ignored either. Jesper Fast, Greg McKegg, Micheal Haley, Matt Beleskey, Steven Fogarty, and Jean-Francois Berube are all UFAs this summer. Vinni Lettieri, Danny O’Regan, and Nick Ebert round out their class of Group Six UFAs.
Salary Cap Outlook
While many expected the Rangers to face a serious cap crunch this offseason, the reality isn’t terrible at all. Even with a $6.08 million penalty for the Kevin Shattenkirk buyout, the Rags aren’t doing too shabby in the cap space department. Via the team’s CapFriendly page, they have $14.39 million in space to fill this offseason, space they’ll need most of.
Likely Departures
Alexandar Georgiev
The Rangers’ goalie situation this season was heavily publicized. After the emergence of Igor Shesterkin, they were rotating through three NHL-level goalies. Georgiev’s name was constantly thrown in trade rumour mills, as Shesterkin’s high potential and Henrik Lundqvist‘s massive deal make them both long-term keepers.
Now may be the Rangers’ last chance to get any value in return for Georgiev, as re-signing him would be a waste of cap space for next season. Being a pending restricted free agent, the Rangers will look to trade his rights and get assets in return. If they can’t find a compatible trade partner, however, they will likely not issue him a qualifying offer and let him walk to unrestricted free agency.
Jesper Fast
A pending unrestricted free agent, Fast appears to be the other obvious cap casualty for the Blueshirts this offseason. While he’s carved out an impressive NHL career for a former sixth-round pick, the 28-year-old winger likely won’t be back in New York. He provides solid depth offence, consistently hovering around 30 points, but the Rangers have younger talent like Vitali Kravtsov and Kaapo Kakko ready to take the next step and replace Fast’s offence. That kind of dependability that Fast provides will come at a premium that’s out of the Rangers’ price range, so expect them to part ways.
Likely Re-Signings
Ryan Strome
After struggling mightily with the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders, Strome appears to have possibly found his niche in Manhattan. Posting a career-high 59 points in 70 games, he saw elevated usage playing alongside Artemi Panarin. While those are great totals, considering his past history, there are some one-hit-wonder signs brewing.
So while Strome was an extremely impactful part of the team this season, his consistency issues make it hard to offer him anything max-term. Evolving-Hockey’s contract projection tool suggests a max eight-year deal for Strome, which appears unrealistic not only due to his past performance but also the Rangers’ cap situation. A shorter-term deal would lower the cap hit on the deal.
The next most likely term for a Strome deal is five years. For that length, Evolving-Hockey predicts a more reasonable cap hit of $5.83 million a season. It reduces the Rangers’ cap space to $8.56 million.
Anthony DeAngelo
Now having completed his fourth season in the NHL, DeAngelo has finally lived up to his 19th-overall billing, perhaps even more so. The 24-year-old defenceman exploded for a 15-goal, 53-point campaign this year, playing in only 68 games. They’re huge totals for a defenceman, and his power-play prowess was of huge benefit to the Rangers’ special teams. While he may not be able to continue that level of production, it’s unlikely DeAngelo takes a huge step back, too.
New York needs cost certainty for their core, so expect them to re-sign DeAngelo on a longer-term deal than his current one-year pact. Evolving-Hockey projects a five-year term for DeAngelo, with a $5.71 million cap hit. It brings the Rangers close to the cap with only $2.85 million in space, but they still have room to re-sign their last key restricted free agent.
Brendan Lemieux
The son of former tough guy Claude Lemieux has certainly done everything he can to follow in his father’s footsteps. He’s spent 240 minutes in the penalty box in only 131 career NHL games, providing an aggressive element to his game. He’s also not completely useless on offence. He provided the rangers with 18 points this year, including six goals. They’re fine totals for a fourth-line role, especially considering the grit aspect he brings to the table.
He fits seamlessly with the Rangers’ identity, so they’ll definitely want to keep him around. He’ll likely come cheap, too. Evolving-Hockey lists a two-year deal as the most likely outcome, only costing New York $1.39 million a year. Their cap space now only sits at $1.46 million, but they’ve managed to retain three of their big pending free agents.
Potential Free Agent Additions
For the Rangers, like many others, cap space is an issue this offseason. After the big Panarin splash last year, the Rangers made themselves known as real players in free agency. Undergoing an accelerated rebuild, the team has looked to add quality players from outside the organization. That likely won’t be possible this summer, though, thanks to the huge cost of the Shattenkirk buyout. However, due to the cost structure, the Shattenkirk cap penalty drops from $6.08 million next season to $1.43 million after that.
So the Rangers likely won’t be big free agency players this offseason. But still, look for them to continue their accelerated rebuild in the future as cap space frees up.
Check out the other Offseason Primers for the Metropolitan Division:
Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
