The major impact targets who can accelerate the Rangers offseason retool

During January President and General Manager Chris Drury sent out a letter headlining the Rangers will be going into a retool built around their core players and prospects where they will be targeting players with "tenacity, skill, speed, and a winning pedigree", with the main focus being on acquiring younger players.

It would be smart for Drury to follow what Kyle Dubas and the Penguins have done in acquiring young players from other teams that have seen their roles diminished or could be potentially on the block due to some teams looking to further push for the Stanley Cup.

Lucky for the Rangers there could be several options available that can immediately slot into their lineup for next season and possibly for the future.

Kent Johnson | Columbus Blue Jackets

Kent Johnson could see himself out as Columbus looks to make that push into the playoffs after a disappointing 2025-26 campaign where he only had 22 points in 76 games, with just seven goals. He saw himself put on the fourth line by former Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason and scratched through parts of last season, so why would the Rangers be interested in such a player?

Well on paper Johnson checks all the boxes in what the Rangers are looking to bring to their lineup; he has great speed plus high-end skill while also winning gold during the 2022 World Juniour Championship with Canada and winning the B1G 10 championship with Michigan during the 2021-22 season. The former 5th overall pick also has success in the NHL level where he put up 24 goals and 57 points during the 2024-25 season.

He has work to do in his defensive zone and could bulk up, it reminds me a bit of Jack Hughes during his first couple years in the league where the skill was evident but he just needed to get stronger to get into the dirty areas while also being able to hold onto the puck to create high danger scoring chances. Now I'm not saying Kent Johnson has the ceiling Jack Hughes does, but the issues that he had last season could easily be corrected under the right lenses which is why I believe the Rangers should have him at the top of their list in young talent to pursue.

Mavrik Bourque | Dallas Stars

Bourque just had a big year for the Dallas Stars where he had 20 goals and 41 points in all 82 games, while also having strong analytics in a primarily middle-six role for Dallas. Bourque among all Stars was fourth in his xGF/60 (expected goals for per sixty minutes), eighth in P/60 (points per sixty), and eight in his xGA (expected goals against per sixty)/60.

A player who analytically was strong in both zones in creating/finishing chances while also not being on the ice for many against, could be a good fit for what the Rangers are trying to build in the middle-six. To add just from taking a quick look at his goals, they all come from in front of the net and dirty areas which screams of a player whos not afraid to get his nose filthy to generate scoring. But why would the Dallas Stars would give up on a player of this caliber who's only 24-years old?

Well Dallas has $11.06M in cap space for this upcoming offseason but they have to sign Jason Robertson to a very likely mammoth extension that could push past the money they have remaining. Bourque is a pending RFA and they may use him as a piece to flip to help fill a hole somewhere in their lineup such as right hand defense.

Bowen Byram | Buffalo Sabres

Byram is heading into the final year of his two-year, $6.25M AAV deal with the Sabres next season and Buffalo has only a limited amount of cap space to maybe get an extension done with both Dahlin and Power under contract long-term. Could he be a guy the Sabres potentially shop in acquiring talent in their Top-6 if Tuch were to leave in free agency?

Maybe not, but if there is any noise that he could be available for trade I believe the Rangers should do their best to pounce on it. Byram is someone the Rangers could lock into their Top-4 for the next 8+ years; coming off back to back 35+ point seasons with the Sabres with 11 goals this past season where he averaged 22 minutes per game, Byram showed great offensive ability with Buffalo despite being behind Rasmus Dahlin in the depth chart.

The most important factor is in his microstats; according to hockeystats.com's, Byram was in the 78th percentile in his exits, 68th percentile in his exit possession rate, 95th percentile in his exit success rate, and 60th percentile in his pass exits among all defensemen. The Rangers have had a big need in defensemen helping get the puck out of their defending zone, and Byram is someone who can immensely help with his positive success rate in defensive zone exits. A bonus is that Byram has a cup with the Avalanche while being a regular player for the team, which just adds another check into the wish list the Rangers presented during their Letter 2.0.

Final Thoughts

If the Rangers are looking to add to their roster rather than stand pat this summer, it'd be smarter for it to be via acquiring younger players rather than veterans such as Mario Ferraro or overpaying an Alex Tuch and force themselves into a flawed playoff contender.

Players such as Kent Johnson, Mavrik Bourque, Bowen Byram, plus others not listed such as Anaheim's Pavel Mintyukov along with Mason McTavish, and Utah's Barrett Hayton are all players that can help bolster the Rangers with their combinations of what the Rangers are currently looking for in players to help bring this franchise back to a championship caliber team.

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