New York Rangers' salary cap situation raises a ton of concerns for the organizations young stars

The New York Rangers' future prospects are troubling, as the prospect pipeline is thin and has very few players who they could promote from the minors compared to their peers in the postseason.

While we count Brennan Othmann, Gabe Perreault, and Brett Berard, there aren't others who could find themselves in the regular lineup.

While 2020 1st overall pick Alexis Lafreniere hasn't panned out as expected in the Rangers' lineup, he's leveraged a great year into a $7.45 million deal for the next seven seasons.

K'Andre Miller's production has declined, like Lafreniere and as an RFA, it's difficult to tell whether or not he'll remain a Ranger in the offseason.

While the Rangers no longer have a plethora of young prospects to develop, as Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil, and Vitali Kravtsov are gone.

While veterans like Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad are underperforming, and getting paid handsomely.

Their contracts pay them $6.5 million (Kreider) and $8.5 million (Zibanejad) each, while they haven't been producing to the sticker price.

Zibanejad, whose production has diminished to a 58-point season in 79 games, could find himself in another uniform should GM Chris Drury find a receptive party, which might be difficult to find.

Kreider himself, a 13-year veteran, has had the same issues, putting up a meager 26 points in 65 games this season, and the Rangers could find a way to recapture some value through a buyout or trade, depending on what benefits the books best.

The fact is the Rangers have given out too many exorbitant contracts with veteran players who are past their prime.

They will need to explore other avenues of finding relief, whether it's trade, buyout, or another option as it's unlikely this core may last at the end of the year.