2022-23 and beyond
This is where it gets interesting. The biggest issue facing the team is Mika Zibanejad who will be an unrestricted free agent starting in 2022-23. Jeff Gorton was smart in signing him to five year contract at what is now the bargain rate of $5.35 million a year. In hindsight, a maximum seven year contract would have been an even bigger and better bargain.
Here’s the issue. Zibanejad has established himself as one of the best players in the NHL and worthy of a payday similar to Artemi Panarin. The problem is his age. He will be 29 years old when the 2022-23 season starts and he will turn 30 in April the following year. There is no doubt he will looking for similar term to what was given to Chris Kreider and money similar to Panarin. Will the Rangers be prepared to give a 29 year old elite center a seven year deal worth $77 million?
The other challenge will be Adam Fox and Kaapo Kakko. While both players will be restricted free agents with no leverage when it comes to salary, the team could try to sign them to long term contracts. It will be a more pressing issue for Fox who will be 25 at the start of the season and only two seasons from unrestricted free agency. Kakko is younger and won’t be eligible for UFA status until one year later, in 2026-27.
The nature of the Rangers’ rebuild isn’t helping. Having all of these young players maturing together also means they are all in similar contractual situations. The Blueshirts will be faced with a number of players becoming arbitration eligible free agents simultaneously, a situation that will not help their cap situation especially considering the fact that they have Panarin, Kreider, Trouba and presumably, Zibanejad, all committed to longterm big dollar contracts.
The real future
This is all pure speculation. The only numbers we can put in the bank are the salaries of the players under contract and the dead cap space from buyouts. It is worth carefully watching how Jeff Gorton and company handle their negotiations with RFA’s DeAngelo, Strome, Georgiev and Lemieux. How much they are willing to pay and how long their are willing to go on term will tell us a lot about the team’s long-term strategy.
Trading Brady Skjei was an endorsement of Tony DeAngelo. Similarly, how they handle Ryan Strome will tell us a lot about their expectations for Filip Chytil and Brett Howden. Another unknown factor is the Seattle expansion draft when the team will lose one player. And the final unknown factor is what trades the team will make as they continue to rebuild the New York Rangers into a Stanley Cup contender.
All salary data courtesy capfriendly.com.