The New York Rangers have been one of the most consistent teams in the NHL the last three seasons, averaging 110 points, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals twice and winning last year’s President’s Trophy as the team with the best regular season record.
Despite cries from “Rangers Social Media” to shake things up, President and General Manager Chris Drury decided to have a relatively quiet summer and run it back with a couple of small additions, and the possibility of injecting more youth in the lineup with forwards Brennan Othmann, Matt Rempe, Adam Edstrom and Brett Berard expected to get a long look in training camp.
The biggest noise came in the form of Jacob Trouba trade rumors that were all the rage around the draft and the opening of free agency. Many thought the Rangers were trying to clear money for someone like Steve Stamkos or Jake Guentzel. At SRNY, we thought otherwise. Next summer the Rangers will have 10 prominent players headed toward free agency, including pending UFA’s Igor Shesterkin, Ryan Lindgren and Reilly Smith and RFA’s K’Andre Miller, Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko.
If you were of the mindset to “run it back” then you got your wish for 2024-25. If you were hoping for a “shake-up”, you’ll get your wish next summer as the Rangers are going to have to make some hard decisions to stay cap compliant.
KEY OFF-SEASON ACQUISITIONS
Sam Carrick
Reilly Smith
Carrick comes advertised as the poor man’s Goodrow, both literally because the Rangers hope he can fill the 4th line center and penalty killer role and figuratively as he signed a 3-year contract with $1m AAV. Carrick’s played 240 games across 8 seasons with Toronto, Anaheim and Edmonton and is expected to win the 4C job over Edstrom.
Smith is projected to be in the Rangers top 6, yet he also has the skillset to play anywhere in the lineup. The Rangers acquired him on July 1st when the free agent wingers they targeted wanted long-term deals. Smith is coming off a disappointing season with the Penguins, but he won the Cup the year before with Vegas, scoring 14 points in the Golden Knights 22 playoff games.
KEY OFF-SEASON DEPARTURES
Barclay Goodrow
Erik Gustafsson
Jack Roslovic
Alex Wennberg
Blake Wheeler
Carrick and Smith should be able to fill the combined roles and versatility that Rangers got from Goodrow and Wheeler. Coming off a season in which the team chemistry was a major strength, the Rangers had to give pause before giving up a member of their leadership group, but Goodrow’s salary needed to be sacrificed to raise funds to give small raises to Kaapo Kakko, Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider.
Gustafsson will be replaced by Zac Jones on the 3rd pair. Jones really grew as a player in the defensive zone in his first season under head coach Peter Laviolette. Roslovic and Wennberg were trade deadline acquisitions made necessary by injuries to Wheeler and Filip Chytil.
FINAL ANALYSIS
The biggest news of the summer was projected to be the signing of Shesterkin to the highest contract ever for a goalie. We are still waiting on that news. With that story on hold, Drury elected to “run it back”. Considering the team’s chemistry and success last season, we like the strategy.
GRADE B+
“Rangers – Grading the Off-Season” is the third in a series prior to the start of hockey and basketball training camps. Knicks and Nets summer report cards coming soon to SRNY.
