Free Agency begins at 12PM today and the Rangers are slated to have $15.6 million in cap space according to Puck Pedia.
Braden Schneider is the main RFA that the Rangers have to sign.
The Rangers remain engaged on a potential Vincent Trocheck trade and they have been reportedly trying to acquire defenseman Alexander Nikishin from Carolina.
11:15AM: The Senators are “one of several teams” interested in Will Borgen. (Garrioch)
7/1/26 | 11:07AM:Darren Dreger said on TSN that he thinks Nikishin will end up in the Western Conference.
6/30/26 | Elliotte Friedman said on Monday and again on Tuesday that the Rangers have been trying to acquire Carolina defenseman Alexander Nikishin.
Friedman said on Monday that Carolina wants a player in return and that he heard “the Rangers offered them a few picks, including a first, and I just don’t think they are interested in that.”
On Tuesday, Friedman said “I think it’s heating up around Nikishin” and that the Rangers are “trying again and they really want him and I think he would be happy going there.”
Friedman added that he thinks Nikishin turned down a long-term deal from Carolina.
Nikishin, 24, is a pending RFA but he doesn’t have arbitration rights and isn’t eligible to sign an offer sheet.
He had 11 goals and 22 assists as a rookie this past season, finished seventh in the Calder voting and was named to the All-Rookie team.
He is a left-shot defenseman.
The Rangers sent qualifying offers and retained the rights to the following RFAs (Baugh):
Dorofeyev is expected to sign a seven-year deal worth $11 million per season.
The Rangers did not send qualifying offers to the following players who will now be free agents:
It was announced when Rizzo was acquired for Adam Edstrom that he wouldn’t be qualified.
Brisson played in three games for the Rangers last season and had one assist. He had 19 goals and 18 assists in 66 games for Hartford.
7/1/26 : 8AM: Elliotte Friedman tweets that he still thinks that Utah “lusts” after Trocheck but that Trocheck prefers to stay east. (Sportsnet)
6/30/26 | Darren Dreger said on TSN that Dylan Larkin and Vincent Trocheck are “linked” and that if Larkin gets traded “Vinny Trocheck most likely will be not that far behind. I know a number of teams that have expressed interest in Trocheck have circled back. To this point Dylan Larkin has not been willing to expand his no-trade list and it’s a limited list as we know and that puts the Red Wings in a real bind. They know what they need to replace the talent of Dylan Larkin, they can’t go backwards in a deal like this. If a deal doesn’t materialize and Larkin doesn’t expand his limited no-trade list then the Red Wings are expecting Larkin to show up in training camp and I don’t think that would be best case scenario for the player or the team. Maybe Trocheck and the Rangers will pull the trigger sooner rather than later, but these two veteran centers are linked in some capacity.”
6/29/26: Elliotte Friedman said on 32 Thoughts that he has heard that the Rangers continue to have a “very high” price for Vincent Trocheck, possibly higher than what they were asking for at the trade deadline.
He also wondered if acquiring Pavel Dorofeyev might make the Rangers reconsider trading Trocheck.
It was reported last week that the Rangers may be looking for a first round pick and prospect for Trocheck.
Right after the trade deadline it was reported that the Rangers were looking for a first round pick, a young player and top prospect.
Trocheck’s 12-team no-trade list becomes 10 teams on Wednesday.
This weekend at the NHL Draft the Rangers: