The Rangers acquired Tyler Motte at the trade deadline from Vancouver for a fourth-round pick in 2023.

Motte played in 9 regular season gamesa and 15 playoff games for the Rangers, scoring two goals and averaging 12:33 per game in the regular season and 12:04 in the playoffs.

He spoke about his future last week and said (NYR)

• On free agency, “I think that free agency is still a bit aways, but I’ll have the conversation with my agent Rich and see what happens.”
• On the amount of interest he might get, “I can’t speak on who is interested or how many or what locations, but it will be the first time going through this process and it will be interesting to see how it goes. As a player you put your time in, you work to get the point of being unrestricted, but you are also looking for the right fit and right opportunity with the right group to hopefully get back to keep playing hockey this time of year.”
• On his time with the Rangers, “I enjoyed being here, for sure. Me and my fiance moving cross-country, being a little bit closer to home, once we settled in I think we felt really good here. From a hockey standpoint, it’s a great organization, well-run top to bottom, got great support staff, great people around and that really goes a long way for players, I think.”

The Athletic projects Motte’s next contract as $2.9 million per season for four years.

He ranked 31st on Daily Faceoffs list of top free agents.

Adam Rotter: Motte was very impressive as a fourth liner with his speed, penalty killing and defensive ability. He was always noticeable on the ice and I’m sure the Rangers are not the only team that took notice during the playoffs. He would be a big piece to bring back, but I don’t know if the Rangers will have the space to accommodate him.

You can get into salary cap trouble real fast by spending too much in your bottom-six/fourth line and the Rangers already have Barclay Goodrow at $3.64 million and Ryan Reaves at $1.75 million. I don’t know if Motte will get close to that projection of $3 million, but something just over $2 million for a few years seems more likely. I don’t know if the Rangers have the room for that based upon the roster they still need to construct this year and the next few years until the salary cap starts going up. I think it could be more likely that Motte signs elsewhere and the Rangers acquire another Motte-type player at the deadline next year.