New York Rangers: What to do with their 7 free agents

Major roster decisions are looming for the New York Rangers

The New York Rangers have an exciting future. They have an MVP candidate in Artemi Panarin, a leading goalscorer in Mika Zibanejad, an heir to the goalie throne in Igor Shesterkin along with a supporting cast with names such as Chris Kreider, Kaapo Kakko, Adam Fox and Filip Chytil.  Now we can add in the top pick in the NHL Entry Draft and the Rangers will be an exciting team for years to come.

The Stanley Cup Qualifiers this year was cut short for the Rangers, as they were the first team to leave the bubble and now they have to focus on the off-season. Free agency is at the top of New York’s concerns, as they have seven free agents that they need to deal with. Five are Restricted Free Agents (RFA’s),  which means that their rights are owned by the Rangers. All five are all eligible for arbitration, which means that they can use a neutral third party in order to settle disputes and decide the player’s compensation.

The last wo players are Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA’s), meaning that they can do whatever they want in the free agent pool. New York does not have a say.

The Rangers need to focus on these seven free agents and decide on who to bring back.  All seven played key roles on  the team in some way this season. The final salary cap has not been determined, but it appears it will remain flat at $81.5 million.  That means that the Rangers will have $13.5 million in cap space, with a decision on  what the team is going to do with Henrik Lundqvist still  coming.  This is an analysis of whether these free agents will or should be playing on Broadway next season, based on what we know right now.

We’ll start with their second line center.