Despite having the best regular season in franchise history and making it to the Eastern Conference Final, the New York Rangers enter the 2024 offseason with questions. Despite their success, they fell short of the ultimate goal to end their 30-year Stanley Cup drought. Going forward, it won’t be about making the playoffs or even making it to the conference final – with these core players, the team is built to win a championship now.
The 2024-25 season will be another season in which the Rangers are looking to win a Stanley Cup. But, before that, there are questions that need answering this offseason. They were good enough to make it to the Eastern Conference Final, but they weren’t good enough to beat the Florida Panthers once they got there. If the Rangers want to win a Stanley Cup next season, these three needs must be addressed.
Rangers Must Shed a Contract to Create Cap Space
One of the Rangers’ main issues is that most of their highest-paid players have trade protection – it is either impossible to trade them or they have control over where they will end up. The team’s two highest-paid forwards, Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad, have full no-movement clauses in their contracts, and both are facing criticism after disappointing playoff performances.
Another three players, Chris Kreider, Jacob Trouba, and Barclay Goodrow, also take up a lot of cap space but all three have modified no-trade clauses in their deals, and each player will submit a 15-team no-trade list on July 1. However, the Rangers didn’t wait long to make their first big move to clear out salary.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Rangers placed Goodrow on waivers. He has three years left on his deal worth roughly $3.6 million per season. That is too much for the team to pay a fourth-line center, but it looks like he might have found a suitor for his services.
According to Mollie Walker of the New York Post, the San Jose Sharks will claim Goodrow off waivers: “Though there is belief there is a pre-arranged deal for the Sharks to claim Goodrow, who spent the first six seasons of his NHL career in San Jose.” This would allow the Rangers to avoid a buyout and clear up all that cap space to give them more flexibility to make moves this offseason.
Rangers Must Add a Top Six Right-Winger
Ever since General Manager Chris Drury traded Pavel Buchnevich to the St. Louis Blues in the 2021 offseason, the Rangers have had a hole in their top-six alongside Zibanejad and Kreider. Many different players tried that role, but none of them have stuck. Whether it was Frank Vatrano, Vladimir Tarasenko, or Patrick Kane, all of whom were rental players and left during free agency so they were never a permanent solution. They have also tried Kaapo Kakko in that spot, and while he also has had some success, it was never for a long period. This offseason, the Rangers must address this need once and for all.
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The Rangers need to go out and get that one player who will leave no question that they are the right choice to fill that role. There are going to be players available both via trade and free agency, including Kane and Tarasenko. Should they try to bring them back but this time give them a longer look on that line?
Could they pursue a player like Jake Guentzel, who they tried to get at the 2024 Trade Deadline? If the Rangers can clear the necessary cap space, it would be a possibility. They also looked in on Vatrano at the deadline but did not want to give up the assets that the Anaheim Ducks were asking for. Should they start those talks again? Drury must fix this problem that he created during his early days as GM.
Rangers Must Shake Up the Defensive Core
Against the Panthers, it was obvious that the Rangers’ defensive core is not good enough to lead them to a championship. They were caught in their own zone for long shifts, and when they got the puck, the defensemen could not move it quickly enough before Florida reclaimed possession. The team lacks a good puck moving defenseman outside of Adam Fox, and if they keep this core around, the same thing will happen in the playoffs next season. They need to shake up their defensive core, and that starts with getting rid of three players: Trouba, Ryan Lindgren, and Erik Gustafsson.
They should let Gustafsson walk in free agency. His play declined as the season progressed, and they already have Zac Jones who could take over as the third-pairing and second-unit power-play quarterback. With Trouba, he was a disaster in the playoffs, especially against the Panthers. He made too many mistakes that an $8 million defenseman should not make. Whether via trade or a buyout, the team needs to move on from their captain as soon as possible.
Lindgren is a restricted free agent, so the Rangers don’t need to extend him a qualifying offer. They can trade his rights, and they should. His play style will only get worse with age and signing him to a long-term deal, knowing his injury history would be a mistake. The Rangers need to move on from these players and bring in bigger, mobile, puck-moving defensemen.
The Blueshirts have a good core of players that can get them far, but they haven’t been able to make it to the finish line. The core players are getting older, and this is the last season that goaltender Igor Shesterkin will be under a team-friendly contract. This is why they need to make these changes this offseason as next season could be the last chance they have to win with this core group of players.
