Coming off of a disappointing first-round playoff loss to the New Jersey Devils, the Rangers are gearing up to have a bounce-back season after last year’s high expectations. Chris Drury, the Rangers’ general manager, made a splash at the deadline months ago, acquiring Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane, among others. The risky moves didn’t work out for them, and they lost not only Kane and Tarasenko in the offseason, but Tyler Motte and Niko Mikkola who were also high-impact rentals. Last season’s decisions seem all for naught, and Drury took a slightly less drastic approach this offseason.
In last season’s news, young center Filip Chytil signed a four-year extension, which dictated the contracts of other young Rangers in the summer months. Former first overall pick, Alexis Lafreniere signed a two-year extension which puts him under a lot of pressure to improve, but it wouldn’t be surprising to find him elsewhere before those two years are up if he doesn’t step into a bigger role this year. Defenseman K’Andre Miller signed a two-year extension as well, which will act as a bridge deal giving Miller time to improve and earn a larger salary when the relatively short contract concludes. Similarly, Zac Jones signed for another two years, this time on a one-way contract which guarantees him the same salary in either the NHL or the AHL. He found himself up in Hartford with the Wolfpack quite a lot last year after he proved inconsistent in the NHL, but Braden Schneider’s partner on the third defensive pairing still seems to be a question mark. Jones will fight for that spot in the coming months.
With the young stars locked in for a couple more years at least, Drury made a series of low-risk, high-reward free agent signings. The biggest of which is the addition of Blake Wheeler, a former Winnipeg Jets captain and right wing. Drury signed him at the low price of $1.1 million for one year, and his salary cap hit is $800,000, giving the team room for other additions.
Wheeler is definitely not a game changer at this point in his career, but he is a seasoned veteran with years of leadership experience, and he fills one of the spots left by the losses of Kane and Tarasenko. Drury also signed three-time Stanley Cup winning goalie Jonathan Quick to a one year contract, replacing Jaroslav Halak as Igor Shesterkin’s backup. He was a cheap signing as well, especially coming off his stint on the Vegas Golden Knights’ Cup-winning squad. He’ll look to back up the Rangers to a potential Stanley Cup, after beating them in the Finals just nine years ago.
The smaller but equally as economical signings included veteran center Nick Bonino, centers Tyler Pitlick and Riley Nash and defensemen Connor Mackey and Erik Gustafsson. With the exception of last year, Bonino is a consistent 20 to 30 point-per-year player, and contributed to the Pittsburgh Penguins back-to-back Cup wins in 2016-17. The other big name is Gustafsson, a reliable point-scoring defenseman coming off of a 42-point season in just 70 games. He has incredible value for the small price of $825,000. Of all contracts Drury negotiated this offseason, Gustafsson’s may be the biggest steal. It’s hard to say where all these new additions will fit into the lineup this season. Gustafsson is a likely pick for the final spot on the third defensive pairing, with Zac Jones likely the “seventh defender” who will occasionally slot in or fill in during injuries. The amount of forwards Dury signed is a bit of a head-scratcher considering the young guys coming up, like Brennan Othmann, Will Cuylle and Adam Sykora. Othmann is likely to crack the lineup this year, so it’ll be interesting to see where the rest of them slot in. Drury set the team up for success in the 2023-24 campaign, and fans will wait and see if it’s enough to make
