Rangers Free Agency Overview

The Draft came and went, and now with only a few big names left on the market, it is safe to assume that Chris Drury is done making moves, barring a big unforeseen trade. Drury addressed some critical issues down the middle and locked up some of our very own Blueshirts this summer.

First, let’s talk about the players that the New York Rangers lost this summer due to the cap crunch they were in this summer.

First off is Andrew Copp who was acquired at this past year's deadline and was an immediate impact on the Rangers for his short time with the team. With an impressive 18 points in 16 regular season games. Including a hat trick against rival New York Islanders. As well as a 14-point performance in 20 playoff games. Although many of those points came early on and his production did start to slow down towards the end of the run. Regardless of the slowed production, he was a huge part of the team this season and he priced himself out of New York due to the question marks surrounding whether or not he is a true second-line center.

Andrew Copp this summer signed with his hometown Detroit Red Wings for five years at a 5.625 million dollar AAV.

Second off is Ryan Strome who was one of the veterans of this young rangers squad. Strome had a career-high 21 goals along with 54 points in 74 games played. Strome had an honestly very disappointing playoff with only 2 goals and 9 points. Including a terrible missed empty net in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals which haunts Rangers fans' dreams.

Strome decided to go far far away from the east coast and went to the young up-and-coming team the Anaheim Ducks. He signed a 5 contract worth five million dollars AAV.

The next big piece that left this summer was deadline acquisition Frank Vatrano. Vatrano made an instant impact on the first line beside Mika and Kreider. Scoring 8 goals in only 22 games along with 5 assists for 13 points total. As well as impressive playoffs with 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points in 20 games.

Vatrano decided to follow Strome and went to Anaheim as well to bolster that top 6. Vatrano inked himself a 3-year deal at 3.650 million dollars AAV.

The next player lost was Tyler Motte who was acquired at the deadline as well. Motte did not have any points in the nine regular season games he played but he was a huge contributor to the penalty kill as well as a great fourth-line center.

Motte had 2 goals in 15 playoff games. But again was huge in the penalty kill as well as the fourth-line center role.

Tyler Motte has yet to sign with another team and there has been some interest from both sides for a possible extension.

The last big loss was Alexander Georgiev. He was traded at the beginning of the offseason for some picks in this year's draft. Georgiev had a decent season winning 15 games and holding a .898 save percentage. Although he was particularly great at the end of the year. He played 2 games and played fairly well in the playoffs in relief of Igor Shesterkin.

Georgiev signed a 3-year deal at a 3.4 million dollar AAV.

Other losses that really didn’t matter much were Kevin Rooney, Patrick Nemeth, and Justin Braun.

Now moving on to the main additions. The Rangers were pretty cap strapped this offseason so they didn't really have much flexibility to make too many moves. Although the moves they did make were smart and addressed some key issues.

First was the biggest splash the rangers made this summer in signing former Hurricanes Center Vincent Trocheck. Vincent Trocheck was signed just as the free agency period began to address the hole the Rangers had at the second-line center after the departure of Copp and Strome.

Trocheck signed a 7-year 39.375 million dollar contract. With an AAV of 5.625 million a year.

Trocheck is a good fit for the Rangers and is just the player they needed. He plays with an edge that the Rangers really lacked down the middle apart from Barclay Goodrow. Trocheck has played for Gerard Gallant before also and he has playoff experience and can fit in between Panarin and Kaapo Kakko very well.

The only real issue I do have with the contract is the term is a bit long although the AAV isn’t going to be very hard to trade in a few years if the time comes.

The second big move wasn't that big, to be honest. Trocheck was the big move this summer and then there were just a few minor holes to address.

The first of them is in a backup goaltender. To fill this role will be veteran goalie Jaroslav Halak formerly of the Vancouver Canucks on a 1-year 1.5 million dollar deal. In 17 games played Jaroslav Halak put up decent numbers. He had a 2.94 GAA and a .903 save percentage behind a quite bad Canucks defense. Halak will be the perfect goalie to fill in for about 30-35 games and put up serviceable numbers.

Lastly of the free agent signings was centerman Ryan Carpenter. Carpenter will be the ideal replacement for Tyler Motte on the fourth line. Carpenter has played the role before and has also played for Gallant as well. Carpenter will be the perfect fit to help the rangers to a 50% faceoff stat for the first time in seasons.

Lastly, we’ll look at the two re-signings of two very important future pieces of the Rangers. First, we’ll look at the signing of Vitali Kravtsov. He was brought back into the fold on a 1-year 875k deal. And he will finally get his time to shine on the main roster. This is a great move as it shows the bridge has been repaired between management and the Kravtsov camp. Krav will fit perfectly on the third line with Chytil and most likely Sammy Blais.

The second signing is the long-awaited Kaapo Kakko signing. Kakko signed back in New York for 2 years at 2.1 million dollars. This is Kakko’s “prove it” deal. This year is a year where we need to see some huge progress. We saw it last year with Laffy and I do believe we will see it this year with Kakko. Kakko should be playing on the second line with Panarin and Trocheck and he is the perfect fit. Look for Kakko to blow up this year and finally show why he was picked 2nd Overall.

And so this is the overview of what the New York Rangers did this summer in free agency. The season grows closer as every day passes on. The Rangers roster is basically locked in and we will see how the lines come to fruition as we get closer to camp and more. This season is the first season in the Rangers cup window. Why not make the absolute most of it while we can? Let’s go Rangers!!