Tuesday has been a very busy day in the NHL, which makes a ton of sense given Friday's upcoming draft, but it has been a brutal day to be a fan of the New York Rangers. Rangers fans are continuing to see other teams get top returns for their star players, which makes the Artemi Panarin trade that much more painful, and some of their fantasy booking scenarios have gone up in smoke. The latest news is especially rough, as the Metropolitan Division just got more competitive.
Washington Capitals land Jordan Kyrou
The Capitals are making a bet on Jordan Kyrou, and they didn't pay a high cost to do so. Kyrou has spent the last eight seasons with the St. Louis Blues, and he's compiled a stat line that includes 168 goals and 210 assists for 378 points in 488 games.
He's scored at least 30 goals in three of the last four seasons, and also has tallied 75, 73, 67, and 70 points in that span. The reason he is on the move is because he's coming off a year in which he finished with 18 goals and 46 points in 72 games.
Jordan Kyrou, acquired by WSH, is a dynamic scoring winger with sick hands, wheels, and dual-threat skill, especially off the rush. Finishing collapsed this year, previously a strength. His D metrics were also superb this year; I don't know that I would count on that though. pic.twitter.com/TXFzRm7aPC
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 23, 2026
It was a down year for him, and one in which he shot just 10.2 percent which is three percent lower than his career average. Despite the down year up top, he was still worth 11.5 goals above replacement according to Evolving-Hockey, a rate that would have been fourth-best on the Capitals roster last season. He also would have ranked third on the New York Rangers roster, just ahead of Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin.
Rangers options continue to dwindle
Kyrou waived his no trade clause to join the Capitals, and there's no guarantee he would have done that to join the Rangers. We already learned that Brady Tkachuk had no interest of joining the Rangers, and the same applies to Dylan Larkin. It is a bit concerning that a franchise like the Rangers won the Presidents' Trophy, made the Eastern Conference twice in a three year period, and has fallen off to the point where they have missed the playoffs in back to back seasons.
The organization doesn't appear to be a major draw right now, and that is very troubling when there are limited options in free agency for the Rangers to throw money at. New York does have some good players under contract, but they need to get better if they are serious about contending. Beyond that, they need to have a roster that players feel is good enough to consider joining. President and General Manager Chris Drury certainly has his work cut out for him, and the clock is ticking to make something happen before the draft.
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