Top three Rangers trade pieces for during the season

The New York Rangers are at the end of the line with this core group. With many of the kids having grown up, they now require new contracts that will be very expensive to maintain. Especially since the most sought after contract renewal is Igor Shesterkin, which is rumored to be north of $12 million a year.

With that said, there may be some players let go during the middle of the season to help alleviate that salary-cap stranglehold. Some of the guys are on the end of their deals and have not performed up to par with the rest of the group, and may find themselves shipped off depending on how the Rangers are at that point of the season.

If the Rangers find themselves in a complete spiral downward from the past few seasons, it may be time to strip away the big looming contracts and re-tool once again. Or, if they continue the trend of being an elite hockey team, they could use these trades to snag a top-tier talent, whether it's a forward or defenseman.

Kaapo Kakko

This is a make-or-break year for Kaapo Kakko. His recent contract was a put-up or shut-up offer of one year, $2.4 million. As the years pass, we patiently await his breakthrough moment. If he wants to remain a Blueshirt at the season’s end, that breakthrough must happen quickly this year. 

After making some strides in 2022-23, it all came to a halt last season. Kakko hasn’t found a rhythm in five years with the Rangers. It has been up and down, with it not going very high at all. In 300 career games in the NHL, he has 57 goals and 60 assists for 117 points. A natural goal-scorer in his time with TPS of the Finnish SM-Ligga league, many regarded him as being the most complete and NHL-ready of the entire draft.

But, in five seasons, very little supports him being that kind of game-changing, generational talent. The former second-overall pick has to have a breakout season in 2024-25. If he cannot get off to a good start, he will likely be dealt at the deadline to a selling team. The Rangers need a concrete first-line right winger, and it could be Kakko if he outperforms the newly acquired Reilly Smith. Or, it could completely go the other way with being traded before the season’s end. 

Jimmy Vesey

No matter how this season ends up for Jimmy Vesey, it is likely going to be the end of the road for him with the Rangers. In his second stint with the team, he has reached the end of his two-year, $1.6 million contract, and will be a UFA next summer. 

As this is his second go around with the Rangers, it may be possible to try and keep him around for a small price. He has been solid in his fourth-line role and has been expendable enough to move up and down the lineup. 

But, with the Rangers about to be going through a tough offseason next year, that small contract offer could be used to retain a bigger piece of this organization. 

K'Andre Miller / Ryan Lindgren

This is going to be a toss-up. The last possible trade piece for the trade deadline in 2024-25, is one of the core defensemen of this very talented group. Either Ryan Lindgren or K'Andre Miller will not finish the season as a Blueshirts d-man.

It all comes down to the salary cap. These top four defensemen are in the final year of their contract and are among a ton more on this team that will be searching for a new deal. There is simply not enough money to keep them both if they want to bring back the right players in 2025-26.\

In my personal opinion, I believe that even though he is very injury-prone, Lindgren will remain. Miller, who would be very hard to replace, has not been able to step out of his shell and step up in the moments he is needed most.

Lindgren has been a mainstay on that first line and has battled thick and thin to retain that position. Alongside Adam Fox, they make a very formidable first-pairing.