Elliotte Friedman wrote at the end of April that the Rangers are expected to be aggressive this offseason and have sent “signals they won’t be afraid to use an offer sheet.”(Sportsnet)
Friedman said on the 5/16 31 Thoughts Podcast, “I gotta think that if the Rangers are gonna look at anybody in particular it’s going to be Point. I got a think that if they are going to do an RFA it’s going to be Point.” (Sportsnet)
The compensation set out for the 2019 RFA class is (Gord Miller):
Ad
- $1,395,053 or below: None
- $1,395,054-$2,113,716: 3rd round pick
- $2,113,717-$4,227,437: 2nd round pick
- $4,227,438-$6,341,152: 1st round pick, 3rd round pick
- $6,341,153-$8,454,871: 1st round pick, 2nd round pick, 3rd round pick
- $8,454,872-$10,568,589: Two 1st round picks , 2nd round pick, 3rd round pick
- Over $10,568,590+: Four 1st round picks
Teams can only use their own picks as compensation for RFAs.
The Rangers traded their third-round pick in 2020, which can become a second-round pick in 2020 if conditions are met, to acquire Adam Fox.
The Rangers would need to reacquire their picks from Carolina to be able to sign any RFA that would include compensation of second or third round picks.
Current Ranger RFAs include Pavel Buchnevich, Vinni Lettieri, Tony DeAngelo, Brendan Lemieux, Neal Pionk and Freddy Claesson. Buchnevich, Lettieri, Claesson and Pionk are eligible for arbitration.
Adam Rotter: At some point the expectation is that the dam will break with RFAs and offer sheets will start being used. Could the Rangers be the team that does that? Yes. Will they be, probably unlikely. Some expect that if the Rangers are going to get involved with RFAs it will be via trade rather than free agency. The Rangers have stockpiled so many assets that rather than try to lure a player to sign with them for a high cap hit, so the original team won’t match, some believe they would be willing to make a trade, land a player through a more traditional avenue and sign him to a more reasonable deal. Jacob Trouba and players closer to being UFAs are more likely to fit this mold than Mitch Marner, Brayden Point, Charlie McAvoy or Zach Werenski would.