The New York Rangers have already undergone multiple roster renovations since opening night due to unforeseen injuries, and for the foreseeable future, their hands are virtually tied unless Chris Drury takes decisive action.
On the ice, the Blueshirts are rolling. Navigating five games in eight days to open the new season, New York sits at 4-1-0. Yet behind the winning streak, organizational depth has been tested immediately with injuries to Joonas Korpisalo and Joe Veleno.
To summon reinforcements, Matthew Robertson was waived and assigned to Hartford to create cap room for 20-year-old rookie Cole Beaudoin, while Dylan Garand had to be recalled after clearing waivers. If another injury strikes this roster tomorrow, the Rangers are in a severe financial bind.
Rangers should not be this "broke" this early
According to PuckPedia, the Rangers currently have just $376,515 in available cap space. That translates to an estimated $1,698,910 in projected trade deadline cap space when factoring in daily accrual. For a team carrying a pretty standard 22-man active roster, being this broke in the first two weeks of October is baffling.
The crunch is not driven by superstar compensation bloating the books, but rather, it is the byproduct of sloppy, bottom-of-the-roster contract management by the team's president and general manager.
One such player is Adam Sýkora, and the team didn't have a choice in the matter because he was hurt in the preseason. Right now he counts for $110,208 against the cap, and per PuckPedia, "if a player is on a 2-way contract & was on an NHL roster for less than 50 games played last year & is injured prior to opening roster, their Cap Hit while injured is pro-rated based on # of days on roster last year multiplied by the current year cap hit."
Korpisalo, however, was completely avoidable. Committing a $3 million cap hit to a veteran backup whose underlying numbers have lagged below league average for seasons was questionable on its face. It was made worse by the presence of Dylan Garand, an inexpensive, high-ceiling netminder who had already paid his dues in the AHL.
Urho Vaakanainen was signed to a two-year deal in March of 2025, and his cap hit was for $1.55 milion which is above the threshold in which a player can be stashed in the AHL for no additional charge. Vaakanainen made just $1.1 million on his previous contract, and the Drury felt a raise was in order. He went on to appear in 34 games last season and was immediately assigned to the AHL to start this season. Right now the Rangers have $325,000 on their books, and that's almost as much as their total available cap space.
Taylor Raddysh was another player signed to a two-year deal, and he was a bottom-six option who was brought in to be a veteran for the Rangers. He too was signed above the amount you can bury in Hartford, and the Rangers currently have $275,000 of his $1.5 million counting against the books.
Lastly is Juuso Parssinen who was acquired by the Rangers at the trade deadline during the 2024-25 season from Colorado. He was making just $775,000 at the time of the trade, and he earned a raise to $1.25 million after just 11 games with the Rangers. Parssinen appeared in just 20 games last year, and $25,000 is counting against the cap while he plugs away in Hartford. When you add it all up, the Rangers have $625,000 on their books for players skating with the Pack.
While Raddysh is a case of the Rangers just opening up a roster spot for a youngster, ideally it would make sense to try and trade him to free up that $275,000 off the books. The Rangers' deadline space will grow in proportion to the space they have available, and there's no reason to have that money waste away. The same could be said about Vaakanainen, but it is likely that there just isn't any interest in him.
Rangers could be forced to make a tough decision
The lack of financial flexibility also complicates how the Rangers build their lineup. Sullivan deployed Matt Rempe in the season opener against Boston, but has relegated the fan favorite to street clothes for four consecutive games while Jaroslav Chmelař skates on the fourth line. Addressing the scratch, Sullivan was candid about stylistic matchups:
Sullivan said, "A lot of it is who we look at as our opponent and what we think is a better matchup, based on who the opponents are. Remps is a different type of player than Jaro. They’re both valuable players for our team, they’re just different players. I’ve had conversations with both of those guys around that and the lineup decisions that we’ll make moving forward. Going in against a Tampa team, we thought it was a better fit for Jaro"
Rempe is making $975,000 against the cap, and that's a lot of money to be a temporary player. The Rangers would risk losing him if placed on waivers, but it is something they'd have to consider. Having that cap space, and it accrue, is something that is more valuable for the team in the long run. There would be moment in which the team would want to have another forward as an extra, and in that case they could always recall someone who make just slightly less and still be in a spot where they are banking more space than they would had Rempe remained.
Cost of zero flexibility
The consequences of this tightrope have already emerged. When the Calgary Flames placed forward Connor Zary on waivers, his $3.775 million cap hit made any potential claim or trade impossible for New York.
Even if a quality fourth-line center or depth defenseman making a flat $1 million were to hit the waiver wire tomorrow, the Rangers could not place a claim without shedding a player first.
The Rangers are winning hockey games, and Sullivan has the locker room pulling in the same direction. But front offices cannot afford to not have eyes on the future. If Drury intends to be a serious player at the 2027 trade deadline, he must find ways to offload Raddysh or Vaakanainen and clear the dead money off Broadway's books.
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