2022/23 NY Rangers thread (Rebuild's Over)

[bicketybam]

Devils new goalie.

[nj meadowlands]

9 hours ago, bicketybam said:

Devils new goalie.

Cute, still paying attention are we? #RebuildsOver

[bicketybam]

Cute, still paying attention are we? #RebuildsOver

Maybe try two goalies in net. Only give up 3 a game.

[nj meadowlands]

14 minutes ago, bicketybam said:

1 hour ago, nj meadowlands said:

Cute, still paying attention are we? #RebuildsOver

Maybe try two goalies in net. Only give up 3 a game.

Good one kayak boy 

[bicketybam]

Good one kayak boy 

I aim to please.

[Rangers9]

Gallant fired again after only two seasons. Pretty shocked but reporting says players turned against him in exit interviews. Not first time for him after seemingly doing a good job remember he was fired from Vegas after taking them to finals in first year. The name rumored to replace him is Quenneville but he has his own gremlins. The Rangers made some big trades toward end of year and some of those guys weren’t working out at least short term. Maybe Gallant not the right guy to fire. 

[Rangers9]

One thing that stuck out during Devils series was big difference between Alexis Lafreniere and Jack Hughes. Both overall first round picks Hughes in 2019 and Alex in 2020. Drury didn’t draft Lafreniere but he’s only been Ok a slow developer while Hughes a big star. Alex didn’t even score in Devils series. I’m not sure how big a fan Gallant was with Rangers late season trades for vets like Patrick Kane but he had to coach them and rumors that him and Drury had big differences on personnel moves of Rangers. 

[JustEndTheSuffering]

12 hours ago, Rangers9 said:

One thing that stuck out during Devils series was big difference between Alexis Lafreniere and Jack Hughes. Both overall first round picks Hughes in 2019 and Alex in 2020. Drury didn’t draft Lafreniere but he’s only been Ok a slow developer while Hughes a big star. Alex didn’t even score in Devils series. I’m not sure how big a fan Gallant was with Rangers late season trades for vets like Patrick Kane but he had to coach them and rumors that him and Drury had big differences on personnel moves of Rangers. 

I wouldn’t even call Lafreniere ok. He is a complete bust at this point and I would be fine with the Rangers trying to move on from him. 

[Rangers9]

3 hours ago, JustEndTheSuffering said:

I wouldn’t even call Lafreniere ok. He is a complete bust at this point and I would be fine with the Rangers trying to move on from him. 

Lafreniere in 216 NHL reg season games is: 47-44-91. Jack Hughes in 244 NHL reg season games is 87-120-207. Alexis isn’t a bust he’s a disappointment for someone drafted overall 1. 

[Anthony Jet]

This “core” isn’t gonna get it done. Not enough open ice for Panirin in the playoffs. Kakko and Laffy good role players definitely not living up to draft position. Never wanted Kane. Knew that was a waste. Love the 4th line, Motte is a keeper, but goodrow, who I like, makes too much to be a 4th line winger. Love Zib but he didn’t have a great playoffs. Don’t know how to do it but this team needs some major changes. Not necessarily a tear down but some big changes. 

[Rangers9]

Patience is thin in pro sports. I’d take Gallant over Drury. I wonder if Thibs loses to Miami he’ll get the boot too. The Bucks HC just did and he also had a great coaching record. 

[Rangers9]

In todays playoff game Hughes scored 2 goals and had 2 assists. Something I don’t seeing Lafreniere being able to match. But his point totals have improved over 3 seasons. He’s around 20 goals and scoring in about half of the games. It’s not insignificant and maybe he’d have better numbers if he skated with better scorers. I think the guy can make plays and maybe he’d be better as a center than on the wing? 

[Anthony Jet]

1 hour ago, Rangers9 said:

In todays playoff game Hughes scored 2 goals and had 2 assists. Something I don’t seeing Lafreniere being able to match. But his point totals have improved over 3 seasons. He’s around 20 goals and scoring in about half of the games. It’s not insignificant and maybe he’d have better numbers if he skated with better scorers. I think the guy can make plays and maybe he’d be better as a center than on the wing? 

I definitely would’ve held onto gallant, especially when you look at who’s available, but he was lacking in Xs and Os and exposed in the playoffs 2 years in a row. Was not able to adjust when the team was figured out. 

[Rangers9]

1 hour ago, Anthony Jet said:

I definitely would’ve held onto gallant, especially when you look at who’s available, but he was lacking in Xs and Os and exposed in the playoffs 2 years in a row. Was not able to adjust when the team was figured out. 

I don’t know about the Xs and Os I’ve heard that too. He’s a long time NHL player and coach plus he has assistant coaches who plan out offense and defense etc so it’s not all on the HC. It sounds like he didn’t get along with Drury and management and they wanted him out. He also might be the kind of guy who wears out his welcome fast. There’s a good number of coaches who regularly switch teams and a lot. DeBoer who took his place in Vegas for example gets jobs but doesn’t stay long. I remember reading what some of his players in Vegas said about him after he was let go by them and it was positive. They said he was an honest guy who treated them fairly. I also heard over the two years he was here how players liked him over Quinn who some thought micromanaged. 

[Rangers9]

One thing I didn’t like from Gallant in the Devils series were comments he made about his players after either game 3 or game 4 basically throwing them under the bus after losing a tough close defensive game. He said they didn’t show up but they did and played good defense they just lost to a good team that had a better record than they did in regular season. It was a tough hard fought loss imo not a no show.

[LAD_Brooklyn]

Rangers have option but little cap space to work with

Rangers GM Chris Drury addressed the biggest offseason need last week: He hired Peter Laviolette as the new coach.

There are ways Drury could change his roster, especially on the right side at forward, but they require some creative salary-cap management to do so as the NHL’s busiest week begins in Nashville.

Drury and his crew arrive in Nashville armed with at least one desirable asset: The 23rd pick. After trading away the Rangers’ first-rounder a season ago in the Andrew Copp deal, Drury has a first-rounder this time around in a fairly deep draft — the first-round pick the Rangers dealt to the Blues for Vladimir Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola was the Stars’ first-rounder, which ended up being the No. 29 pick.

And the Rangers sent away this year’s second-round pick to the Hawks in the Patrick Kane deal, though that didn’t end up converting into the Rangers’ 2024 or 2025 first after the team failed to reach the Eastern Conference final. Yay?

So the Rangers could come away from this week with another solid prospect to add to a thin stable. Brennan Othmann, Drury’s only other first-round selection at No. 16 in 2021, could be on the opening-night Rangers roster for a variety of reasons that go beyond Othmann’s skill and willingness to play with an edge. The Rangers enter free-agency week with roughly $11.7-million in cap space but a deep well of needs.

Let’s run through the Rangers’ options for what could be an intriguing couple of weeks — or, more likely, something very straightforward and less intriguing.

 

The draft

Scott Wheeler and Corey Pronman, our draft experts, have pored over and mocked this first round every which way. On Wheeler’s top 100 prospect list there are a number of quality options around No. 23, including centers Cal Ritchie from OHL Oshawa and Gavin Brindley from the University of Michigan. Charlie Stramel, a big center from Wisconsin, would seem to be a reach at that spot, though he checks a lot of the size boxes that the Rangers lack down the middle.

The biggest pool of talent in the mid-20s range is at left wing, which could make everyone groan a bit. The Rangers’ main roster issue now is too many left wingers — Othmann and Will Cuylle, the organization’s top forward prospects, are both LWs and may have to move around to work into the roster. Alexis Lafrenière is also a left wing and hasn’t been able to crack the top six on the left side.

So why take another one? Well, if that’s the best player available, you’re not exactly picking another left wing who’s going to crowd the NHL roster in 2023-24. If Quentin Musty (OHL/Sudbury), Samuel Honzek (WHL/Vancouver), Eduard Sale (Czech League/Brno) or Bradly Nadeau (BCHL/Penticton) are there at 23 any one of them is likely worth a selection.

Among defensemen, RHD Axel Sandin Pellikka (Sweden/Skelleftea), RHD Oliver Bonk (OHL/London), LHD Etienne Morin (QMJHL/Moncton) and LHD Dmitri Simashev (KHL/Yaroslavl) could be available when the Rangers pick.

Trades

In the last week or so the landscape to add a useful player on a reasonable cap number has certainly shifted. The Flames and Jets are dealing with mass departures and the Flyers appear to be willing to move anyone outside of top prospect Cutter Gauthier, so the Rangers have some interesting options to add to their forward group on the right side.

Tyler Toffoli is certainly one of those options. With a year left at a $4.25-million cap hit, the 31-year-old right wing being available should interest a lot of contending teams with little cap space. The only way the Rangers could make this one work is to shed some salary, either going back to Calgary or in another deal; it’s unlikely Drury would want to surrender the 23rd pick for a player with one year left on his deal, though perhaps a Toffoli trade would be viewed as a season-long rental rather than one at the trade deadline, where Drury has certainly been willing to give up first-rounders.

Blake Wheeler makes little sense as a trade candidate with an $8.25-million cap hit for 2023-24 but, if the Jets buy out the 36-year-old right wing before the buyout window closes on Friday, the Rangers could have some interest in Wheeler as a low-cost free agent. Again, so would plenty of other cap-strapped playoff teams but Wheeler has a fit on the right side and could provide some of that veteran leadership on a team that has plenty of veterans but not a lot of leaders outside of captain Jacob Trouba.

A league source said that Drury had a discussion with agent Pat Brisson about Jets RFA center Pierre-Luc Dubois, though there was little chance that was ever going to be a realistic option for the Rangers given their situation at center and Dubois’ desire for a long-term contract in the $8-9 million AAV range. But that shows Drury takes nothing for granted, so there’s always an outside chance he’s trying to stay in on other, higher-end trade candidates like Alex DeBrincat in Ottawa or Travis Konecny in Philly, where new GM Daniel Brière isn’t hanging up on anyone calling.

Those last couple are incredible long shots and would require the Rangers to move out at least one of their young core. Goodrow, with four years left at a $3.6-million cap hit, could be moved to create space, but Drury likely would have to attach an asset to make that move and the Rangers currently have just one second-rounder and one third-rounder over the next three drafts total.

If there’s an appetite for moving Lafrenière that could open up some more possibilities. But it’s nearly impossible for Drury to get equal value back on a 21-year-old three years removed from being the No. 1 pick, so the bet is Lafrenière stays put.

Buyouts

The first NHL buyout window closes on Friday. Goodrow could potentially be a buyout candidate; the savings on a buyout of his remaining four years is substantial over the next three seasons, with the Rangers actually gaining $200,000 in cap space for 2023-24 and $100,000 for 2024-25 before the dead space kicks in. And the cap will presumably go up by several million dollars by 2026-27, when a Goodrow buyout would cost $3.65-million and then $1.258-million for four years after that (buyout info courtesy CapFriendly).

Drury would likely have to have a trade or free agent in mind if he goes the buyout route with Goodrow, who has been a useful utility man in his first two seasons with the Rangers but not one whose cap hit justifies his role. But he would have a role for Laviolette, who may not want to see one of the harder-working Ranger forwards leave. The same could be true for Drury.

Free agency

Lafrenière and K’Andre Miller, both RFAs, need new contracts. The Rangers need a backup goalie and, as our Pierre LeBrun wrote, have had preliminary talks on bringing Jaroslav Halak back as Igor Shesterkin’s No. 2. Contracts for all three of those players likely wouldn’t exceed $8.5-million in total cap hits, which would leave the Rangers with around $3.2 million in space for next season.

Here’s the problem: The Rangers would have just nine returning forwards on the roster and 17 total players. To get to 21, even plugging in entry-level contracts like Othmann and Cuylle and cheap defense depth like Zac Jones, there goes your $3.2 million. So thoughts of bringing Tarasenko back seem like fantasy right now; same for Kane, who likely won’t even sign on July 1 as he rehabs from hip surgery. If Kane waits until after the season starts to pick his team the Rangers would be in the mix if they can find the space. Big if.

For the Rangers to get involved in the free-agent frenzy, a contract has to move out. It could be Goodrow, it could be Lafrenière, it could be Kaapo Kakko, who’s due a new deal after next season. Any of those are farfetched. In an even more farfetched scenario, it could be Trouba, whose buyout cost isn’t prohibitive but whose absence would be. There’s zero chance any of the big-name players with no-move clauses (Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck) leave.

And if the Rangers make a play for a free agent, even one who could come in on a reasonable number — Connor Brown, Garnet Hathaway or anyone else who costs around $2-million per — then they open themselves up to a potential offer sheet on Miller, who likely comes back on a two-year bridge deal in the $4-5 million AAV range. He might be of interest on a long-term play by a team with lots of cap space, plenty of draft capital and a desire for a 23-year-old potential top-pair defenseman. That’s also pretty farfetched but you can bet Drury has played that scenario out in his head already.

That’s a lot of words to summarize what could be a pretty simple plan for the Rangers: Draft a future top-nine forward or middle-pair defenseman, work to sign their own RFAs and hope Laviolette can have success with a group that’s running it back.

There’s always a chance for excitement and chaos. The league seems primed for it this week with a few of the teams in full-sell mode already. But the Rangers may not be a part of it this time around.