Will Cuylle's Next Deal Could Be A Source of Major Concern for New York Rangers Fans
Photo credit: NHLI
The New York Rangers will have to fast-track Cuylle's next contract. Will Cuylle is garnering attention as the postseason's #1 RFA, according to insiders, after having a career-year scoring 20 goals and playing on the same line as Filip Chytil at the beginning of the season.
Coming off a career year in 2024-2025, Will Cuylle is one player GM Chris Drury will have to work extra hard to protect. As an RFA, he's vulnerable to offer sheets.
With GM Doug Armstrong breaking the taboo of sending them last season, it seems the market could be the wild west in 2025. And Cuylle could be the #1 RFA target in July.
That is, if Drury can't figure out a way to sign him beforehand.
This year, Cuylle scored 45 points (20 goals, 25 assists) and improved as a player. Not only does he have two-way skills, but he's not afraid of being the kind of prototypical power-forward teams love. He can throw the body and score a goal.
It's a shame it came to pass, because in 184 minutes the trio had a slash line that includes a goals for percentage of 85.73, a Corsi for percentage of 53.4, and an expected goals for percentage of 51.99 per Evolving-Hockey.
The 23-year-old skated primarily on the same line as Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko before both players were traded. This season, he played about 15:05 TOI a night
Near the end of the season, he found himself playing on the same line as JT Miller and Mika Zibanejad. Questions continue to rise of where his next contract could land as the Rangers are projected to have only $8.42 million in cap space, and multiple RFAs to consider.
The Rangers will want to keep him in the $3-4 million dollar range; however, if offer sheets are thrown in the mix, they could end up losing him.
In terms of offer sheets and compensation, things get interested when you approach the $4.68 million to $7.02 million range, and more interesting at the $7.02 million to $9.36 million range, because both are situations where a team could try and make the Rangers uncomfortable.
The Rangers will have to facilitate trades or waivers in order to remain flexible and keep a power-forward who came close to closing in on 50 points this year.
Previously on NYRangersInsider
| POLL | ||
MAI 23 | 1038 ANSWERS Will Cuylle's Next Deal Could Be A Source of Major Concern for New York Rangers Fans Should GM Chris Drury of the New York Rangers prioritize signing forward Will Cuylle first? | ||
| Yes | 921 | 88.7 % |
| No | 117 | 11.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
TRENDING NOW
