The Rangers head into the NHL Draft that kicks off with round one this evening with four picks. New York has pick 23, which is their own, having traded the second first-rounder they acquired from Dallas in the Nils Lundkvist trade to St. Louis for Vladimiir Tarasenko. The Blueshirts also have picks 91, acquired from Colorado in the Alexandar Goergiev deal, 152, 178 and 183. As you can see from that list, a few selections are missing, having been traded the past two seasons to improve the team for playoff runs.
As Larry Brooks noted in his column below, "Fact is, through deals involving the likes of Andrew Copp; Vlad Tarasenko; Patrick Kane; Tyler (Two Times) Motte..Frank Vatrano; Ryan Reaves; and Patrik Nemeth, the Blueshirts will have lost one first-rounder, three second-rounders, two third-rounders and a fourth-rounder from 2022 through 2026." The draft pick cabinet is a little bare this year and will be the same the next few seasons. In 2024, New York does not have a third-round pick, while in 2025, the Blueshirts will not have a second and one of their third round selections.
During the mock draft we discussed trading down to acquire additional picks. If one of the group of players - Quintin Musty, Gavin Brindley, Charlie Stramel. David Edstrom - are there at 23 and GM Chris Drury feels one will fall further down the draft, then it behooves to make a deal and acquire additional picks. The Rangers need right wingers, centers and defensemen in the system but have a crying need for speed and physical play. If a player that fills multiple boxes and is the best player available, especially one ranked high on their board, is there at 23, then by all means, add him as your pick, even in lieu of trading down.
The NHL Draft is unlikely to be the route the Rangers will take to improve their roster this offseason | @AGross_Newsday https://t.co/VtZwgxYYEw
— Newsday Sports (@NewsdaySports) June 28, 2023
Chris Drury addressed the biggest offseason need last week: He hired Peter Laviolette as the new coach.
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) June 26, 2023
But more holes remain on the roster. And New York has little cap with which to address them.@StapeAthletic on what the Rangers can do.https://t.co/oZBhBfQGAz
https://nypost.com/2023/06/27/rangers-stuck-in-cap-hell-as-nhls-big-moves-begin/
New York has approximately $11.7 million in cap space with which to fill eight spots on the NHL roster. Two players that remain to be re-signed are impending restricted free agents K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere, each of whom will take up a healthy chunk of the available cap space, barring a trade. Add in five no-move contracts on the current roster and we can see which Drury's hands may be a bit tied.
In order to create room, and this will be a discussion a lot over the next few days, trading Lafremiere and/or buying out Barclay Goodorw are two potential/likely outcomes. Goodrow, who has a 15-team no-trade list, is more of a buyout than trade candidate. If New York opts to go in that direction, his entire $3.641 salary comes off the cap this year and next with an additional 200K of savings this season and 100K next season. As Brooks noted, the Blueshirts wouldn’t begin to pay in any meaningful way until they’re clipped for $1.26 million for four seasons beginning with 2027-28. New York could then try and replace Goodrow with a slightly cheaper option, maybe Garnet Hathaway or Nick Bjugstad. I am one of those, despite the advanced metrics, who has valued what Goodrow has brought to the team, but the flat-ish cap, up just a mil this season again, requires hard decisions.