11:56 AM: Officially, the following the Rangers are free agents:
- Justin Braun, Andrew Copp, Anthony Greco, Keith Kinkaid, Greg McKegg, Tyler Motte, Kevin Rooney, Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano.
7:50 AM: Free Agency opens at 12 PM today and the Rangers are slated to have just over $10 million in cap space.
The Rangers have the following pending UFAs: Andrew Copp, Greg McKegg, Tyler Motte, Kevin Rooney, Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, Justin Braun, and Keith Kinkaid.
It’s expected that at least Strome, Vatrano, Motte, and Copp are expected to sign elsewhere.
- 7:53 AM: Copp is believed to be signing with Detroit. (McKenzie)
Kaapo Kakko is the only RFA currently on the Rangers roster.
The Rangers need to sign a backup goalie after trading Alex Georgiev.
Adam Rotter: It’s finally here and we should get an idea of how the Rangers plan to rebuild their forward group with all the expected departures.
It seems crazy that half of the Rangers top-six will not be returning, but Andrew Copp has priced himself out and Ryan Strome probably will too, but I’m not sure how serious they were about bringing him back anyway. Copp was the priority and unless something changes he won’t be back. Frank Vatrano had a nice role on the top line, but he will also price himself out and the Rangers have Sammy Blais, Kaapo Kakko, and Vitali Kravtsov as the potential right side. Depending on how those three perform and/or other things go, it’s not hard to see the Rangers looking for a Vatrano-type rental at the deadline.
Second line center is the main focus and the top options seem to be Nazem Kadri and Vincent Trochek and Trocheck now seems like the player most likely to replace Ryan Strome.
Trocheck and Strome are pretty similar. They are the same exact age, 29 and two days, right shot centers, both wear #16 and their point production is in the same ballpark. Strome is a bit bigger, but Trocheck is more physical and much better on faceoffs. Trocheck is better on faceoffs and hits more than Andrew Copp does as well. But what contract will the Rangers give Trocheck that they won’t give Strome and won’t/cant give Copp? The issues with term that have reportedly been an issue with Strome and Copp won’t change with Trocheck. He’s going to get a long-term deal from someone and while the Rangers can do that it eats into future plans like new contracts for Alexis Lafreniere, K’Andre Miller and, if he is still around, Filip Chytil.
I’d expect them to land a backup goalie today as the goalie market seems like it will move very quickly. Martin Jones and Thomas Greiss seem like the most likely, but cost will be important and the Rangers may look to get someone a bit more unproven/cheaper and hope that Benoit Allaire can make it work.
With Kevin Rooney and Tyler Motte both potentially going elsewhere the Rangers will probably also be looking to fill those roles. Motte would be a big get to bring back, but they can’t really afford to spend more than $2 million per year on a fourth-liner. Dryden Hunt, Ryan Reaves, Jonny Brodzinski and Julien Gauthier are signed and Will Cuylle could be ready for a role and maybe they roll with that, with Barclay Goodrow also slotting in depending on how the center depth shakes out. If they do lose Motte, like Vatrano, it’s not hard to see them looking to bring in a Motte-type player as a rental during the season. There will also be some AHL-type players signed that, like Brodzinski, could play on the fourth line when needed.
Then there is Kaapo Kakko and his next contract. I don’t think that will be settled today unless someone decides to throw an offer sheet at him. He could still be traded if the Rangers look to add players that way, but as an RFA without arbitration rights, the Rangers have time to fill out the rest of the lineup first….unless he gets an offer sheet.