The Rangers did not tender Zac Jones or Arthur Kaliyev qualifying offers and they will become free agents. (Baugh)
Lucas Edmonds and Jake Leschyshyn were also not tendered contracts and will become free agents. (Baugh)
Will Cuylle, K’Andre Miller, Brendan Brisson and goalies Dylan Garand and Talyn Boyko were qualified and will be restricted free agents.
Adam Rotter: It was extremely unlikely that Jones was going to return next season. They had him on the trade market for most of last season and either never found what they felt was adequate value, no one wanted him or teams assumed this was where things were headed and they could get him for free. They could have brought him back for a chance with Mike Sullivan, and David Quinn, but his arbitration number would probably come in higher than his qualifying offer and instead the Rangers just decided to cut bait. I’m sure there will be some interest in him as he has shown flashes that make you think he can be a regular defenseman and then he’ll have a game or two where he looks like he isn’t anything more than a spare player. Ultimately Jones was always going to be in a tough spot since Adam Fox was always going to have the role that best suited Jones: running the PP. Maybe he’ll get that chance somewhere else or maybe he’ll just be a spare defenseman again.
Not bringing back Arthur Kaliyev is a bit more surprising. He was a low cost, low risk pick up right after the Rangers traded Kaapo Kakko. He had a couple of moments and then got hurt and missed the rest of the season when he may have gotten more opportunity, but based on how Peter Laviolette handled Brennan Othmann, Brett Berard and, briefly, Gabriel Perreault, that might not have happened. The Rangers do have a lot of wingers, especially if Mika Zibanejad is going to shift to RW as we expect. He’s an offensive minded player and he’s likely pretty far down on the top-six depth chart. Maybe he could have been a third liner, second PP guy, or a Hartford player if he didn’t make the team out of camp, but the Rangers chose not to bring him back.
Jake Leschyshyn had a little bit of a run when he was claimed off waivers a few years ago but wasn’t ever able to break back through and get above Hartford. Him not getting qualified isn’t a big surprise.