Offseason Checklist: New York Rangers

Now, it’s time to see if that bet was the right one.  In theory, New York should be poised to capitalize here on the trade front.  The list of top-six UFA centers is rather small this summer.  It starts with Charlie and ends with Coyle.  The list of teams looking for a top-six center?  More than ten times as long.  One team can ideally fill that spot by signing Charlie Coyle while the rest will have to try to do so on the trade front where supply is limited and demand is extremely high.

Trocheck could very well be the best center that gets made available this summer.  (We’ll see what Alex Steen’s plans are for Robert Thomas, who could ultimately stick around.)  Granted, there is a 12-team no-trade list that could affect things and Trocheck himself noted before the deadline that Western teams are on that list.  However, there are still plenty of Eastern Conference teams who will be looking to upgrade down the middle, certainly enough to drum up a bidding war.

While the East Coast limitation increases the odds that Trocheck could be moved within the Metropolitan Division, this should be about getting the best return regardless of where it comes from.  It’s a package that should include a first-round pick, a high-end prospect, and at least one other element, potentially a roster player to help offset some of the money (although Trocheck’s $5.625MM for three more years should be affordable for a lot of teams).  It certainly feels like it’s time to cash in on that high demand.

Make Room For Youth

One thing that the Rangers did down the stretch was start to use their youngsters more.  Gabe Perreault got a bigger role while young forwards Adam Sykora and Jaroslav Chmelar made strong first impressions.  Drew Fortescue got his feet wet on the back end as well.  And with that extra speed and hustle in the lineup, they were a lot more respectable down the stretch, winning six of ten games to close the season.

This isn’t a situation of reading too much into what amounts to garbage time performance.  But it’s an acknowledgement that the Rangers need to see what some of their youngsters can do.  With the belief that they’d like this to be more of a retool than a long-term rebuild, it’s critical that the team finds out which of these youngsters are going to be part of the core group at that time.  The only way to do that is to give them a chance to play at the NHL level.

That means that this summer, the focus shouldn’t be on re-signing or replacing Jonny Brodzinski or Conor Sheary up front; those spots can be left for some of those youngsters.  Is Matt Rempe (still just 23) or Adam Edstrom (now 25) still in the plans or are they movable?  Would Taylor Raddysh’s or Urho Vaakanainen’s role be better served by more of a prospect?

This isn’t a case of bringing in half a dozen youngsters.  That will cause a different set of challenges.  But having a few spots available at the start of the year to use for evaluation would give the team a lot more information about the future.  To do that, they may yet still need to move out a veteran or two.

Add Goaltending Insurance

There is one other roster spot that appears likely to be turned over to a youngster, that being between the pipes.  With Jonathan Quick retiring, prospect Dylan Garand appears to be in line to get a shot at the full-time backup spot behind Igor Shesterkin.  While it’s not ideal that a soon-to-be-24-year-old will be looking at limited minutes behind one of the NHL’s top netminders, Garand has to pass through waivers next season and it’s not a guarantee that he’d pass through unclaimed should they try to sneak him down.

But even if the plan ultimately is to re-sign Garand (a pending RFA) and have him in the number two role, they need a Plan B.  If he struggles mightily in training camp, turning to midseason signing Spencer Martin isn’t exactly a viable option as he has struggled in his limited action at the top level.

Accordingly, this is the one position where a veteran addition could be useful.  The ideal fit would be a veteran who could cover the backup role if Garand struggles or pass through waivers himself if Garand is ready for the job and serve as insurance with Hartford.  Basically, the type of role they once envisioned for Louis Domingue but someone perhaps a little more proven.  Buffalo signed James Reimer for that role for 2024-25 (though he never made it through waivers for their plan to work).  Someone around that caliber of player would be a worthwhile addition, even if it goes against the rest of the goal of getting younger.