Today was an important date on the NHL calendar as teams had to make critical decisions involving restricted free agents. By 5:00 p.m. teams needed to either tender a qualifying offer to players or decline to submit one to grant them a release to unrestricted free agency which opens on July 1. The New York Rangers opted to let a number of players go, but they also have retained the rights of several others while they try and figure out what comes next.
Breaking down the Rangers decisions
#NYR RFAs who were extended qualifying offers: Schneider, Dorofeyev, Iorio, Morrow, Trudeau
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) June 29, 2026
RFAs who were NOT extended qualifying offers: Ollas, Boyko, Brisson, Rizzo
The Rangers made some no-brainer choices by extending qualifying offers to Pavel Dorofeyev, Braden Schneider, Vincent Iorio, Scott Morrow, and William Trudeau. Dorofeyev is rumored to be signng a seven-year deal worth $11 million per season, so the QO in this case is standard housekeeping. Schneider is a player the Rangers could were well move on from, especially given their long jam on defense.
Iorio was claimed off waivers this season, Morrow was acquired in the K'Andre Miller trade, and Trudeau just joined from the Montreal Canadiens. This trio of blue liners are all trying to find their way and are at different stages of their career. The ability to play them in the AHL gives the Rangers some options that don't quite exist with Schneider.
Iorio is 24 in November, and didn't show anything spectacular during his initial trial with the Rangers. It wouldn't be surprising to see him end up on waivers again at some point, and the same could be said about Trudeau who turns 24 in October and still hasn't made his NHL debut yet.
Rangers decision to move on from group of players makes sense
Chris Drury did not extend qualifying offers to Hugo Ollas, Talyn Boyko, Brendan Brisson, or Massimo Rizzo. Ollas is a 6'8" goalie who was drafted in the seventh round of the 2020 draft and is already committed to playing in Sweden next season. Boyko was picked 112th overall in the fourth round of the 2021 draft, and he too stands 6'8". He didn't impress in the ECHL or AHL, and was loaned to KalPa in Liiga this season.
Brisson had been acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights as part of the Reilly Smith trade, and the 2020 first rounder did nothing of note after joining the organization to earn another contract. Rizzo was acquired in the Adam Edstrom trade to Nashville, and he was never expected to be qualified.
Where things stand for Rangers heading into free agency
Puck Pedia is including the projected deal for Dorofeyev on the Rangers books, and it gives the team a roster size of 21 skaters, $15,675,477 in cap space, and 33 of 50 contracts between the NHL and AHL. An NHL team can only have 50 active contracts at any given time, and those slots will fill up if the Rangers re-sign free agents, sign new ones, or offer an un-signed prospect such as Alberts Smits a contract.
The Rangers are in a decent spot right now, and they still have some decisions to make with their roster. Vincent Trocheck will likely be traded before the season, Taylor Raddysh is a name who could be on the move, Matt Rempe is a player who could be on his last chance with the Rangers, and then there's players like Jaroslav Chmelar, Adam Sykora, Drew Fortescue, and Urho Vaakanainen who could be in Hartford to start the season.
Drury has his work cut out for him, because not only does he need to clear a log jam at the NHL level, he needs to create space in Hartford with names like Liam Greentree, Nathan Aspinall, and Jacob Battaglia in the picture. Today's decisions regarding RFAs didn't feature any surprises, and what comes next will be interesting to see as it will shape the direction of the team going forward.
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