Chris Drury is going to have some precarious salary-cap waters to navigate if he wants to keep the core of his team together.
With eight players hitting either unrestricted or restricted free agency, it will be nearly impossible for Drury to bring the entire band back together while staying under the cap, which is projected to be $87.7 million next season.
The Rangers already have $75.88 million committed for next season and of those pending free agents, the three big ones to watch are all restricted: Ryan Lindgren, Kaapo Kakko and Braden Schneider.
Ryan Lindgren is a heart-and-soul Ranger
Lindgren in particular is a linchpin for whom the Rangers will need to juggle some pieces around in order to keep.
This summer should be a payday for the 26-year-old, who is armed with arbitration rights and the knowledge of his own importance to the team, and should be seeking a raise from his current $3 million average annual value.
The bruising defenseman is a heart-and-soul Ranger and dyed-in-the-wool partner of Adam Fox, but keeping him will likely require Drury to shed some salary elsewhere on the roster.
While a potential extension for Igor Shesterkin is the most important piece of business for the Rangers this offseason, keeping Lindgren will be the hardest.
Thanks to Lindgren’s restricted free agency, Drury does come into negotiations with some leverage.
The Rangers will have matching rights on any team that signs Lindgren to an offer sheet, and even getting that far is an extreme rarity in the NHL.
Kaapo Kakko has been a playoff scratch two straight years for the Rangers
If negotiations are going nowhere, Drury can opt to trade Lindgren’s RFA rights, which would likely net a strong return, but such a move would be one of last resort given how crucial Lindgren has been to the Rangers’ success.
Where Lindgren’s situation is complex, Schneider’s is fairly straightforward.
Schneider had a standout playoffs, looks in line for a permanent move to the top-four next season and after finishing his entry-level contract, should get a bridge deal, perhaps in the range of $3 million annually.
Kakko, the former second-overall pick, is another complicated case.
After being made a healthy scratch in Game 3 of the conference finals — the second time and the second coach under whom the Finn has been a playoff scratch — and struggling to break through into a top-six role all season, there is reasonable question as to whether it is best for the team or the player for him to stay a Ranger.
Certainly there is still potential for the 23-year-old, but whether or not he can achieve it on Broadway is another question.
Erik Gustafsson had a strong playoff run for the Rangers
And with the Rangers likely looking for ways to reshape the roster — preferably while saving some money — trading Kakko’s RFA rights is an obvious move.
It would not be a surprise if all of the Rangers’ unrestricted free agents — Jack Roslovic, Alexander Wennberg, Blake Wheeler, Erik Gustafsson and Chad Ruhwedel — ended up either going elsewhere or, in Wheeler’s case, retiring.
Roslovic and Wennberg were deadline rentals, while Wheeler, Gustafsson and Ruhwedel were all acquired for the short term last offseason.
Gustafsson, however, is someone the Rangers could try to keep if the brass liked his playoff run enough to give him another short-term deal.
The intrigue for this offseason, though, is with the trio of restricted free agents.
