I'm not expecting that any of the marginal moves the Rangers made this off-season are going to turn them into contenders and hope the '25-'26 Rangers can be a more competitive team, play better on defense in front of Igor. Whether you like his deal or not he is going to be the goaltender for the foreseeable future. Rangers team defense hung him out last season and hopefully he can return to form... He faced far too many wide open chances last year.
I hope to see if Othman and Perrault can be NHL'ers and an improved Lafreniere. Other than Cuylle I can't think of 1 other Ranger who performed up to expectation last year. Maybe Brodzinski? Rempe finished the season strong due to the fact that he took fewer stupid/undisciplined penalties.
If you were GM of the Rangers, who would your targets be for the 2026 trade deadline/UFA signings look like? Bearing in mind that the cap will increase and we won't have Panarin's cap hit, the Rangers may have ~ $20M of cap space and maybe more if they can trade Zib's contract. What would your strategy be? Trying to be realistic and not blow it all on guys like McDavid but looking to acquire pieces to make the Rangers a contender.
Me: The Rangers still need defense and to get bigger and stronger up front.
1. Alex Tuch 2026 UFA sorely needed RW who is big and strong that played very well is shitty Buffalo. Might be available at the trade deadline.
2. Niko Mikkola LD that got away.... There are not a lot of decent LD options in the '26 UFA.
--Or--
3. Jamie Oleksiak LD with great size and good skills... big hitter ... A bit older but a 3-4 year contract might be worth it. With the lack of size on D I think the Rangers need to overcompensate a bit.
I might offer Ryan McDonagh a contract to bring some leadership on D. Yes he is 37 but as a 3rd pair guy veteran you probably couldn't find anyone better for that role...Should have never traded him in the first place. He still plays a lot of minutes and can kill penalties.
What else say you?
If they need me to bleed, then I'll bleed for my team
I think it’s exceedingly hard to build a team out of Free Agency. If t
he unlikely happens and McDavid is available then he is probably the only real difference maker. Trades are probably going to have to be the way to improve this team until they can draft some talent.
Not saying build thru UFA but fill needs with players, not a player, that can add to a teams overall improvement.... Like Graves, Chara, Niedermayer. I don't believe that there is 1 player that can put the Rangers over the top.
If they need me to bleed, then I'll bleed for my team
I wish this summer they’d move out Soused, Radish and Parsnips and go after Josh Anderson to play with Wilson when the Wash craps are in town. Rempe hasn’t exactly knocked anybody around yet in a tussle. Plus Anderson has put a couple pucks behind goalies. Coming off an off season he might just get back to a 15-20 goal guy.
Would be a nice get but he has 2yrs. @ $5.5M per left on his contract...I don't know what it would take to pry him away from the Habs but he is the type of player the Rangers need. Not a lot of production, but he would bring a lot of intangibles and plays strong defensively.
Is $5.5M too much? Tom Wilson gets $6.5M with just a few more points...
Intriguing
If they need me to bleed, then I'll bleed for my team
Dumping Soucy at $3.25 mill would be a good start.