The NY Rangers are one of the NHL’s powerhouse franchises of the 2020s despite their lack of winning a Stanley Cup. Still, when you factor in how much money Chris Drury and company will need to fork out so the organization can hold onto the likes of Igor Shesterkin and Alex Lafreniere, just to name a couple of players, Drury will need to make some tough decisions to keep his core group of players intact.
While we don’t know exactly which players he will keep or move elsewhere to make room for the core, we do know a few will be on their way out regardless at the end of the 2024-25 season or 2025 offseason at the latest. Keep reading to see who won’t be around for 2025-26, or at least don’t look like they will be around much longer as we approach the current campaign.
Kaapo Kakko
Kaapo Kakko was one player we thought Drury would re-sign then trade elsewhere, but as August reaches its final 10 days at the time of this writing, we haven’t gotten there just yet. But really, if the Rangers are figuring out a trade package to get rid of him at some point by the 2025 trade deadline to a team that’s been eliminated from contention or close to, you can’t help but think Kakko will be in that deal.
Therefore, I can’t see him lasting the entire season with New York at this point unless he becomes an integral part of the team. Still, if it hasn’t happened yet, you can’t help but think it won’t happen and that come the end of the season, Kakko will be auditioning to stick around with whoever the Rangers move him.
Jonathan Quick
After an outstanding year as Igor Shesterkin’s backup, it wasn’t hard to keep Jonathan Quick around for another season. But 2024-25 will also be his age-38 campaign, and you can’t help but wonder how much longer he will sustain his high level of play.
That said, for a team looking to win a Stanley Cup in 2025, they need to go with what worked for them last season, and Quick drove that point home time and again. At some points in the year, you can even argue that he outplayed Shesterkin until the latter developed some consistency later on.
Overall, it would take an incredible campaign just for Quick to stick around for another season, but then there’s the entire question of whether he wants to continue playing beyond 2025.
Jacob Trouba
You probably saw this one coming, and if you didn’t, it means you took a summer vacation from all things hockey and NY Rangers. Hey, some fans just want to watch sports and come back when the offseason ends or is close to ending, so in case you missed it, few were subjected to trade rumors to the same extent as Jacob Trouba, and he only has a 12-team no-trade list heading into 2025-26 - 15-team list in 2024-25.
While it would be a shocker to see Trouba go anywhere now following an offseason of rumors and a near-trade to the Detroit Red Wings, we shouldn’t fully expect to see Trouba stick around beyond 2024-25. If he likes the situation elsewhere and if nothing else is holding him back to stay in New York, look for one of the biggest blockbuster trades to occur in the 2025 offseason involving him, the Rangers, and Team X - but most certainly a contender.