The sun is shining, the birds are singing and with it officially being one month since the Rangers last played hockey, it’s time to speculate on all our unanswered questions. There really hasn’t been much going on as of late until the Rangers broke the silence with a trade to announce yesterday afternoon. Jayden Grubbe, who the Rangers selected in the 3rd Round of the 2021 Entry Draft was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a 5th Round selection in the upcoming 2023 Entry Draft. While to many this trade may seem random and miniscule, the Rangers had until today, June 1st to make a decision on Jayden Grubbe who a while back, was noted as a prospect the Rangers would not intend to sign to an entry level deal. Thus, time was running out for the Rangers to do something about it and in the eleventh hour, the Oilers did Drury a solid and gave up a fifth rounder for his rights. Given the circumstances, good business once again from Chris Drury.
Aside from that, not much else has really gone down. There hasn’t been many updates on the coaching front aside from crossing names off the potential list of candidates for the vacant Head Coach position. With the Stanley Cup Final set to kick off this weekend, we’re getting much closer to the official start of the off-season when the focus shifts to the draft, re-signing phase and eventually free agency. With that in mind, it’s a good time to really break down the major questions regarding the Rangers as we go into the long off-season which despite how it feels, hasn’t even truly begun yet. That being said, here are five major questions the Rangers face:
Who Will Be The Next Coach of The New York Rangers?
There’s no doubt that this is the largest, most pressing question the Rangers face this off-season. It’s all most of the fan base has really been able to think and talk about since the announcement was made that the organization was parting ways with Gerard Gallant. In that time, I’ve already written a couple articles about the potential candidates that could replace him and while we still don’t have an answer, we have a better idea of how that search is shaping up. With Spencer Carbery, who interviewed with the Rangers, taking the Head Coaching gig in Washington and Andrew Brunette finding a job in Nashville, those are two more names off the Rangers radar. One of those signings however, has led to a new name in the conversation in John Hynes, who the Rangers have recently gotten permission to speak to.
As of right now, it still seems Peter Lavioller is the front runner for the job and while many may look at that as a pretty mundane choice, chances are he is the safest bet. While Hynes is something of an intrigue, he doesn’t have nearly as illustrious of a resume as Laviolette does. It’s also a bit strange how the Preds weren’t really in the market for a new coach until they decided to hire Brunette which is how Hynes got to be a potential person of interest. Chris Drury does have a connection with Hynes which could be reason enough for the Rangers chatting with him but at this point, it’s hard to tell what the Rangers are really considering.
The Rangers should (hopefully) be safe from the likes of Mike Babcock, Darryl Sutter and Joel Quenneville. The consensus seems to be that a decision on the coaching front will be made soon so unless Drury goes off the board with someone like Kris Knoblauch or Jay Leach, it’s hard to really expect anyone other than Peter Laviollete to be manning the Rangers bench come October.
Contract Extensions
It’s no secret that as far as roster decisions go, one of the biggest questions is what will the contract extensions of Alexis Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller look like and how soon could we expect news on that? Obviously, the sooner the better in that regard but realistically, I wouldn’t expect the Rangers to announce any official contract extensions until after the draft. There’s rumors already floating around out there that the Rangers could potentially trade Lafreniere but frankly, that’s an unlikely outcome. For what it should cost to extend Lafreniere, even if only on a bridge deal, they aren’t going to get a better player or address a more dire need at that price point. Unless a team like Vancouver or Montreal is willing to get ridiculous and propose a massive trade to send over a top ten draft pick in this year’s draft AND big name players in the realms of Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes or a Cole Caufield there’s no reason for the Rangers to even consider moving the former first overall pick.
As for K’Andre Miller, he’s going to take up the majority of the Rangers remaining cap hit. Lafreniere will likely get a $2.2 million AAV over two years but Miller could get a much longer term deal anywhere between $4.5 and $6.5 million. In a perfect world, the Rangers keep Miller’s AAV under $5 million with a term around five years but until talks on his extension pick up, we really won’t know what to expect there. The hope will certainly be that Chris Drury pulls off a Filip Chytil type of negotiation and gets Miller signed to an excellent team friendly deal but as we should know by now, Drury likes to hold his hand of cards very close.
Is This a Make or Break Year For the Kids?
The short answer is yes but things are never so simple. The Kid Line is inching closer to the north side of their mid-twenties and with all of them now off of their entry level contracts, it’s time to make their presence known in New York as well as around the league. Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafreniere, K’Andre Miller and even Braden Schneider to a point are needing to take that next step in their careers now more than ever. The eldest child in Filip Chytil is coming off a career season and was promptly rewarded with his four year contract extension. Aside from him, none of the Rangers younger players really had that breakout year quite yet. We saw signs and sparks from each of them at different points but we need a full season of them being consistent contributors in this lineup if this team is truly going to get anywhere in the next couple seasons.
Whoever becomes the coach of this squad NEEDS to force Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere into the right wing positions in the top-six. With Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko both expected to hit the open market, there is no reason for those two to not see the top-six minutes fans have been begging for throughout the last couple years. The big concern with Lafreniere is his comfort and familiarity playing on the right side or perhaps his lack thereof. Frankly, he’s going to need some tough love if he wants to flourish in New York because as long as Panarin and Kreider are here, he isn’t seeing the left side of the top-six until Kreider really starts to show signs of slowing down which are at least another couple of years away.
Who Fills The Remaining Holes in The Lineup?
Along with the aforementioned pending free agents leaving significant voids in this team’s roster, the Rangers are at risk of losing Tyler Motte, Niko Mikkola, Jaroslav Halak and Ryan Carpenter to the open market. Of those six players, I would say Tyler Motte is most likely to return as he is coming off his second campaign with the Rangers and seemed quite optimistic regarding his future with the team at locker clean out day. For the sake of this question, let’s assume Motte comes back but the rest are not Rangers on July 1.
This means the Rangers will need a new backup goalie, a third pair defender on the left side of Braden Schneider, and at least one or two depth pieces that can either act as extras or strong call up options from Hartford. Lost in that are how sizable the holes Tarasenko and Kane leave behind are. Assuming Kakko and Lafreniere fill their roles in the top-six, that leaves openings at the right and left wing positions on the third line if we’re also assuming Barclay Goodrow, Jimmy Vesey and Tyler Motte stay on the fourth line. We won’t know how much cap space the team has to work with until Lafreniere, Miller and Motte extensions come around but it’s safe to assume the budget to be small.
The Rangers will look to free agency as best as they can but will likely have to promote at least one player from within into the team’s top-nine. Forwards Brennan Othmann and Will Cuylle are considered to be the favorites in that regard. While Cuylle made his NHL debut against Toronto last season, Othmann is the more sought after prospect and has pretty much accomplished all he can at the major junior level. He could start the season in Hartford and even split time up and down throughout the first quarter of the season but in an ideal situation, he locks in as the third line left winger. I’ll have a full article on free agent targets for the Rangers in the coming weeks but for now, we at least have a pretty good idea on what this team will be shopping for.
Is Barclay Goodrow a Ranger on Opening Night?
Barclay Goodrow’s name has been blowing around the rumor mill as cap space becomes more and more of an issue in New York. The well respected role player was signed to a surprising six year contract with a cap hit in the 3.5 neighborhood the year after winning his second cup in Tampa. Now after two seasons with the Rangers, they could be looking to move him mainly to clear up cap space. There are few things you can really criticize Chris Drury for in his tenure at the helm of the Rangers but signing Barclay Goodrow AND Vincent Trochcek to multi year, cap heavy contracts, knowing that the budget was only going to get tighter down the stretch is certainly his biggest error. That being said, the Rangers didn’t have much business giving Goodrow such a lucrative contract from the start so it isn’t surprising they’re considering moving him.
At the same time, Goodrow was one of the few players who lacked disappointing moments in an otherwise underwhelming postseason. He certainly brings value in a fourth line role on this team but at the end of the day, is making way too much money to be a fourth liner. I don’t love the idea of the Rangers trading Goodrow away, especially this early into his contract, however if they have something larger cooking, you have to do what you have to do. If Goodrow remains on this team for the entirety of next season, you have to think if the Rangers don’t get it done his window is shut and they’ll look to move him then.
Goodrow has a 15 team no trade list so that limits the Drury’s trade partners to half the league and depending on who is willing to take him, a draft pick would potentially have to be included as a sweetener. I’m not sure at this point in time it’s worth the headache but again, the Rangers window to win a cup is now and if they can’t get it done this year, things are going to change and Barclay Goodrow would undoubtedly be one of them. Definitely a story to keep an eye on this summer but if I had to bet, I’d expect to hear 21’s name called during opening night ceremonies at the Garden in October.
Chris Feldman
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