With the Stanley Cup Final in full swing and the coaching staff finally in place, the New York Rangers next need to turn to determining the personnel. As the final continues, the NHL combine is taking place in LA. New York has the 12th overall pick and will need to decide two days before the draft if that pick is turned over to Pittsburgh, who acquired the pick the Rangers dealt to the Canucks in the J.T. Miller deal and then was flipped to the Penguins for Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor.
Arthur Staple provided some intel from the combine on Saturday. His first point comes as really no surprise. Elliotte Friedman and others have leaked/made it known that the Blueshirts will be open for business this offseason. How far and wide that will go remains to be seen, but if whispers, rumors, and innuendos are accurate, material changes could be forthcoming on Broadway. Of course, GM Chris Drury could opt – or, due to the myriad of no-trade and -movement clauses (NTC/NMC) on the team, be forced – to stay relatively static. However, given what we saw from Drury last year in his handling of Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba, those clauses are far from an impediment
Staple’s second point is the most interesting. “(Igor) Shesterkin, (Adam) Fox and (Artemi) Panarin may be only #NYR untouchables in trade talk.” The first two players mentioned come as little surprise. Igor is the backbone of the team, plus, he just signed an eight-year, $92 million extension. While some advocated dealing Shesterkin, most knew that was an unlikely event. Fox was a little trickier. While the advanced metrics were good once again, those who watched him day in and day out knew that he did not have his best season. The ability to create something from nothing and use his anticipation skills to break up plays and create a rush were sorely lacking last year. The prevailing view was that the two knee-to-knee hits from Carolina’s Sebastian Aho and Washington’s Nick Jensen, the latter one coming in the playoffs, still were limiting his ability to turn and pivot quickly offensively and defensively. But he still is the team’s #1 blueliner and his inclusion on that list is no surprise.
Panarin, though, is somewhat. An unrestricted free agent after the season, his east-west style of play seems to contrast with the north-south model that new coach Mike Sullivan prefers. Add in the sexual assault accusations just before the end of the season and his average playoffs as compared to the regular season, dealing Panarin, despite his production overall, certainly could not be ruled out. It’s possible his NMC is one of the drivers for New York to open 2025-2026 with him, but several others have no movement clauses. Included in that list is Miller, who just arrived, and Mika Zibanejad. In addition, Chris Kreider, rumored to be on the block, has a 15-team NTC, while Vincent Trocheck has a 12-team NTC. The point here is why Panarin is mentioned in that list of three and not others who fall into a similar boat.
Gavrikov’s name tied to the Rangers is little surprise. His name has been bandied about for years as a possible addition to slot next to Fox as the left-side d-man on the first pair. Signing him could require at least five years and north of $6 million per, which, given the team’s current cap situation, would require points 1 and 2 of Staple’s column to come true, freeing up cap room. New York has approximately $8.5 million in room with K’Andre Miller, Will Cuylle, and others to be re-signed. First and foremost, will be to look up Cuylle, avoiding the possibility of an offer sheet. If Gavrikov is brought on board, that could signal the end of K’Andre’s tenure on New York.
Settle in for what will be a long and busy offseason in New York.
Great first blog, Jan