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Here’s the latest file on THN.com’s ongoing analyzes of NHL team offseasons.
Today, we’re looking at the New York Rangers.
2021-22 record: 52-24-6
Finish In The Metropolitan Division: 2nd
Salary cap Space available (According to CapFriendly.com): $4.8 million
Restricted free agents: Kaapo Kakko, F.
What the Rangers have: Possibly the best goalkeeper in the league in Igor Shesterkin; one of the smartest general managers in Chris Drury; an above-average top-four defense corps, including Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox, Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller; off-season veteran additions including No. 2 goalkeeper Jaroslav Halak and second-row center Vincent Trocheck; elite offensive forwards including Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider; a top level head coach in Gerard Gallant
What the Rangers need: Increased production from their back row and from young strikers Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil and Alexis Lafreniere; depth on your third defensive partner
What’s realistic for the Rangers next season: Thanks in large part to the heroics of Vezina Trophy-winning superstar and Hart Trophy-finalist goaltender Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers rose through the ranks of the tough Metro Division and finished the year just two wins behind first-place Carolina Hurricanes. They continued their playoff success, first defeating Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games of their first-round series, then outlasting the ‘Canes in a seven-game series victory that sent them to the Finals. the Eastern Conference for the first time. from 2014-15.
They lost both conference finals series to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and there’s no shame in being beaten by the modern Bolts dynasty. But when you play in Manhattan, excuses for ultimate failure don’t go far, so changes to the Blueshirts’ lineup were expected, and the changes came quickly: Forward Ryan Strome was allowed to depart for Anaheim via the free agency, and was apparently replaced by former Hurricanes and Florida Panthers center Vincent Trocheck; Additionally, forwards Andrew Copp and Frank Vatrano, both acquired midseason by general manager Chris Drury, also became free agents when the salary-cap crisis took effect.
Drury added some veteran help for Shesterkin, adding Jaroslav Halak on a one-year, $1.5 million deal. He also signed forward Ryan Carpenter to a league-minimum contract. But otherwise, Drury was limited in the changes he could make. He still has nearly $5 million in salary-cap space, but some of that will have to go to restricted free-agent forward Kaapo Kakko, and while the 21-year-old Finn has seen his goal total drop for two straight seasons now, the Rangers are not giving up on him. It’s all about finding an appropriate middle ground in terms of pay, and Kakko doesn’t have a lot of clout at the moment, so he hopes he’ll re-sign a short-term deal that leaves management a couple million in cap room to use. during the season
There’s no question the Blueshirts will need Shesterkin to be as bright as he was to them last year if they want to challenge Carolina for the top spot at Metro. If Halak can give them a solid game, Shesterkin will be more rested for another long playoff run, and the entire Eastern Conference will have a hard time beating him in a seven-game series. But make no mistake: nothing less than another trip to the East End will make ownership and management happy.
Can they do it? Absolutely. After Shesterkin’s season, no one should question her ability to repeat it. He’s the best player on the Rangers, and other teams would trade pretty much anyone for a goalkeeper of his caliber. But the rest of the roster needs to take some pressure off him, and if renowned head coach Gerard Gallant can squeeze more skaters out of him, the sky could be the limit for this team.