The Rangers Offseason Will Look Different With a Salary cap Increase
Photo credit: The Hockey Writers
The New York Rangers had to manage a flat-cap by unconventional methods, including signing veterans to a flurry of one-year $850K and below deals, in order to stay frugal.
This would allow younger players to move up and down the lineup, including nine callups during the season, including one Matt Rempe.
However after moving on from
Barclay Goodrow, the Rangers will have a new post-season philosophy. But last season's practices, allowed the Rangers to see what they have in Hartford and the results weren't terrible.
Prospects like
Adam Edstrom and Matt Rempe saw both 17 games and 11 games played in the NHL, as Rempe left a mark during the regular season.
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Both towering forwards will get a chance to make the team at training camp, but Rempe will have the most to prove when pre-season rolls around.
Not to mention,
Brennan Othmann(2021 1st round pick) and
Brett Berard(134th overall pick in 2020), will be attempting to make the club as well.
The need to utilize their depth was purely circumstances, due to players like Blake Wheeler's injury and of course
Filip Chytil's ten-game concussion absence.
And the injury train rolled along as
Adam Fox's knee was injured, along with
Jacob Trouba, which created holes on the blueline that needed to be filled. Of which thanks to Hartford experiencing the same issues, meant limited callups to New York.
Ben Harpur and
Connor Mackey were also bitten by the injury bug, with both missing siginifcant time this season as well. The team's addition of depth forwards like Nick Bonino and Tyler Pitlick, failed to solve any issues, as they would later be waived in the future and Bonino's contract terminated after failing to report to the AHL.
The Rangers would call up Jake Lesyschyn, who after appearing in 12 games in 2022-2023 would only appear in 1 game during the 2023-2024 season.
Lesychyn still has 3 years left on his $766K AAV deal, which was signed with Vegas. Pitlick would contribute only 1 goal and 4 points in 34 games, only to be waived and brought back during the Stanley Cup playoffs, with the taxi squad.
Pitlick and Nic Petan, a trade-deadline acquire may be headed to Europe to keep their hockey careers alive.
Karl Henriksson, a 2019 draft pick of the Rangers is headed overseas to Sweden to play with the SHL's Växjö Lakers HC. The 23 year old center, only posted 23 points in 64 games, prior to injuring his shoulder, missing the entire post-season. Henriksson, likely won't play until mid-November.
Not to mention, it's been reported that Olof Lindbom has made it a point to play in Europe, after being pushed out of Hartford. The 2018 pick, opted to sign with the Pelicans in Finland's Liiga.
The Rangers will have to dig deep and do their due dilgence this off-season to keep their prospect pool full and intact, while adding top talent in the NHL.
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21 JUIN | 177 ANSWERS The Rangers Offseason Will Look Different With a Salary cap Increase Will Chris Drury make aggressive moves during the off-season? |
Yes | 155 | 87.6 % |
No | 22 | 12.4 % |
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