The New York Rangers will continue to have salary cap issues next off-season, even with the cap expected to go up. General manager Chris Drury must make many tough decisions about putting a competitive team on the ice.
The talk concerns goaltender Igor Shesterkin‘s need for a new contract to begin next season. He could be the highest-paid goalie in the NHL. Shesterkin has been eligible for an extension since July 1st, 2024. Negotiations are moving slowly.
The Rangers’ other unrestricted free agents at the end of the season include Reilly Smith and defenseman Ryan Lindgren. Lindgren signed a one-year extension to stay with the Rangers at $4.5 million this off-season, so there will be questions about whether they want to bring him back.
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Not to mention the restricted free agents. The Rangers will have Alexis Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller as restricted free agents with arbitration rights. Other restricted free agents for the New York Rangers include Kaapo Kakko, Will Cuylle, Matt Rempe, and Adam Edstrom.
Jim Cerny of ForeverBlueshirts.com was on the Full Press NHL Podcast and discussed the contract situations facing the New York Rangers moving forward.
“It is going to be a bear to put together that roster next season, because Igor Shesterkin is due to become an unrestricted free agent. Alexis Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller are due to become restricted free agents with arbitration rights,” Cerny said. “They’ve kind of done their bridge deals, and I know Miller’s making a little bit more money, but they’ve done their smaller contracts. Now they’re getting closer to unrestricted free agency. Now they have arbitration rights.”
If Lafreniere and Miller are part of the Rangers core moving forward, what will they be making? If Lafreniere puts together another season like last year for the Rangers, the starting point will be the Dylan Guenther contract with Utah.
Guenther will make $7,142,857 on his next deal. As Cerny notes, $7 million is not out of the question for one of these players.
“Now you’re at the point where you say, yeah, these guys are part of our core, you know, we’ve got it. We’ve got to sign them. So, I don’t know, what does that mean? $7 million for one guy, five and a half, six for another,” Cerny said. “I don’t know six and a half for one, five and a half plus for another. It’s going to cost. If those guys, and I believe they are part of the part of the core, it’s going to cost.”
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As NHLRumors.com has documented, Igor Shesterkin and his agency want 14% of the cap, which means $12.9 million. Most likely, that is not the number. But from all indications, he will pass Sergei Bobrovsky and Carey Price.
Price makes $10.5 million and is not going to play anymore. What is the number going to be? It’s most likely around $11 million, maybe $11.5 million. That number just eats into the New York Rangers salary cap, especially with the contracts already on the books.
“Let’s say he makes 11, right? And again, that might be on the light side. Panarin’s already making 11. Fox is making 9.5. Zibanejad is making 8.5. Kreider’s at 6.5. Alexis Lafreniere, what’s he gonna get? Seven,” Cerny said. “If they get a long-term deal, if it’s only a couple of years, maybe it’ll be less. But right now, it starts adding up.
Oh, where does Ryan Lindgren now fit in? How do you pay Ryan Lindgren, who is probably looking at the moment, this is going to be his biggest payday in the NHL, because, and this is the other part that you have to factor in with Lindgren what’s his shelf life in the NHL, with the way he plays, the way he’s always banged up, his just it’s almost reckless play style and play through all these injuries and everything. You love it. You love to watch it. I mean, you have so much respect for this guy, right? How long can he keep this up? He’s 26. You tell me that the body of a 26-year-old right now?”
The New York Rangers have many questions off the ice heading into the following off-season, and this season has not started yet. They do not have the money to pay the guys they need to add to and replace a top-four defenseman in their lineup.
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It is an endless cycle of having to pay or trade for someone, and they do not have the assets or space to do it.
As New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba, who will look at another time, noted during the opening of training camp, knows the window is closing for this group.
“In all likelihood, this will probably be the last crack for this core,” Trouba said. “I don’t think that’s a secret by any means.”
Several question marks surround the New York Rangers. Next year, this organization could have a whole different feel. They went from rebuilding to contender to middle-of-the-road team in just a few years.
