New York Rangers Re-Sign Libor Hajek
July 12: The Rangers have made it official, signing Hajek to a one-year contract.
July 11: The New York Rangers will bring back a familiar face to add to their depth in that of Libor Hajek. Per CapFriendly, the Rangers have re-signed Hajek, a pending RFA, to a one-year, one-way deal worth $800K (link). The contract will buy out a year of arbitration eligibility for Hajek and will leave him still an RFA after the upcoming season. Originally a second-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2016, Hajek came to the Rangers in the blockbuster that sent Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller down to Tampa.
With the development of several quality blueline prospects in the Rangers organization, Hajek found himself without much playing time this season, getting into just five AHL games and 17 NHL games in 2021-22. When the defenseman did play in the NHL, things didn’t go so well either, producing just one assist and registering a minus-10 rating, the worst of his career, despite playing in as many as 44 games in previous seasons.
In reality, the defenseman has not been a bad player for the Rangers, but has fallen victim to the team’s development of defensemen like K’Andre Miller, Braden Schneider, and Zachary Jones and acquisitions of Justin Braun and Patrik Nemeth. On a one-way contract with the Rangers, who figure to be hard-pressed against the NHL salary cap, making it difficult to retain Braun and perhaps necessitating a trade of Nemeth, Hajek could figure to see more time in the lineup, representing an affordable piece that has proven he is able to play minutes at the next level.
Offseason Checklist: New York Rangers
With the offseason in full swing, it’s time to examine what each squad will need to accomplish over the coming weeks. Next up is a look at the Rangers.
2021-22 saw the Rangers turn their fortunes around quickly. A year after missing the playoffs, new GM Chris Drury made several key changes both on the ice and behind the bench and New York made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final before being ousted by Tampa Bay, winners of two straight Stanley Cups at the time. For them to have a chance at making it back to that point, Drury has some work to do this summer.
Free Up Cap Space
This is a common one for a lot of teams, especially as we reach this post of the series where we’re looking at the ones that went the deepest in the playoffs. Generally speaking, those teams tend to have cap crunches. Right now, New York has a little over $10MM in cap space. Without context, that doesn’t look half bad. However, they have about six roster spots to fill with that money, some of which will cost a fair bit to fill (more on those shortly). They don’t have enough to fill all of those slots right now.
On top of that, winger Alexis Lafreniere, center Filip Chytil, and defenseman K’Andre Miller are all a year away from restricted free agency. All three of them will be eyeing considerable raises while Chytil will have arbitration eligibility at his disposal as well. Knowing that group will become more expensive has to be at the back of Drury’s mind as he navigates his offseason planning while it only increases the urgency for them to create some cap flexibility. That said, roughly half the league is trying to do that so freeing up any sort of meaningful cap room is much easier said than done.
Add A Backup Goalie
One of those roster spots is for a backup goaltender. Knowing they wouldn’t be able to keep him, the Rangers traded Alexandar Georgiev to Colorado just before the draft in exchange for a trio of draft picks, a decent return considering some felt he was a likely non-tender candidate because of his arbitration eligibility. While they did well in that trade, now they need to replace him.
In recent years, the backup goaltender market has gotten considerably more expensive as more teams look to a platoon situation. New York certainly won’t be doing that with Igor Shesterkin entrenched as their starter but his presence coupled with their cap situation will price them out of shopping near the top end of the market. Instead, they’ll be looking at the more affordable end with veterans like Thomas Greiss, Martin Jones, and Jaroslav Halak being potential fits on one-year deals. A trade with a team that has surplus depth (San Jose would be an option) would also be a short-term solution.
While they’re looking at goaltenders, Drury will likely want to add a second veteran as well, one to take Keith Kinkaid’s place with AHL Hartford if they opt not to bring the 33-year-old back. If the Rangers decide to try to save some money on their backup slot, they could look at a pair of prototypical third-string options and see how things shake out in training camp to see who starts with the big club. That would free up another million or so for other needs but such an approach would certainly be risky.
Bridge For Kakko
Three years ago, the hope was that winger Kaapo Kakko would be exiting his entry-level contract having established himself as a cornerstone piece of the franchise. However, the second-overall pick in 2019 hasn’t been able to live up to his draft billing just yet. He has shown some promising flashes but after an injury-plagued year that limited him to just 43 regular season games where he had 18 points and a postseason that saw him pick up just five points in 19 contests while ending with him as a healthy scratch makes it extremely unlikely that either side would be interested in a long-term commitment right now. Even if they were, finding a dollar figure that would work for both sides would be next to impossible.
So, a bridge deal is what Kakko’s contract is going to be then. Which route the two sides go from there becomes the question. The more years on the deal, the more expensive it will be. A one-year pact would give the Rangers the most short-term flexibility but would hand Kakko arbitration rights next summer when Lafreniere, Chytil, and Miller are up for new contracts. A three-year deal would give both sides some security and a bit more longer-term flexibility but puts him a year from UFA eligibility so that’s not necessarily ideal as well. The expectation is that a two-year contract, the most common bridge deal, is the one that will eventually get done with an AAV around the $2.5MM range.
Add Impact Center
Ryan Strome’s tenure with the Rangers hasn’t always been the smoothest (to the point where they pondered non-tendering him two years ago) but in the end, it has been a pretty good one. He put up 195 points in 263 games over parts of four seasons with a cap hit no higher than $4.5MM at any time. As far as second-line production goes, that’s pretty good. It’s the type of consistency that eluded Strome earlier in his career and as he’s coming off a season that saw him reach a new career-high in goals with 21, the 28-year-old has positioned himself for another raise. It’s one that New York might not be able to afford.
New York also added Andrew Copp at the trade deadline to lengthen their lineup and also to get an early jump on trying to sign him as Strome’s possible long-term replacement. But with him seeking a contract comparable to Zach Hyman (seven years, $5.5MM AAV), it’s unlikely that Copp will be in their price range as well.
Chytil was the 21st pick back in 2017 with the hopes that he’d be able to emerge as a capable two-way middleman. He has shown some upside at times but over the last four years, his point totals have ranged from a low of 22 to a high of 23. That type of production isn’t enough to comfortably hand him Strome’s old job even though a full season with Artemi Panarin would undoubtedly boost Chytil’s numbers.
With the internal options basically off the table barring a change in contract demands, Drury will have to look elsewhere for his second pivot behind Mika Zibanejad. Of course, the top free agent options in Nazem Kadri and Vincent Trocheck are going to land pricier long-term deals so they’re out of reach as well with New York’s current cap situation. Finding someone capable of playing that role at a price tag that’s equal to lower than what Strome made the last two years is undoubtedly a tall task but Drury will need to find a way to fill that spot either through free agency or a trade over the next couple of weeks.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Andrew Copp Reportedly Seeking Contract Similar To Zach Hyman's
Rangers center Andrew Copp is coming off a career year that saw him record 21 goals and 32 assists in 72 games while he was better than a point-per-game player after New York acquired him from Winnipeg back at the trade deadline. That has him setting a high price in extension talks as Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the 28-year-old is seeking a contract similar to the one that Zach Hyman received from Edmonton – seven years at a cap hit of $5.5MM. That will be difficult for the Rangers to afford without them clearing out some cap space so it’s quite possible that Copp will hit the open market on Wednesday.
Colorado Avalanche Acquire Alexandar Georgiev
The Colorado Avalanche have found a new goaltender. The New York Rangers have traded Alexandar Georgiev to the Avalanche in exchange for a 2022 third-round pick, a 2022 fifth-round pick, and a 2023 third-round pick.
This means that Darcy Kuemper is no longer expected to re-sign in Colorado, as the Avalanche go with a cheaper option to pair with Pavel Francouz. Georgiev, 26, is a pending restricted free agent due a qualifying offer of $2.65MM and is eligible for arbitration. Even if he landed a good settlement, it won’t match what Kuemper will likely be able to command on the open market, especially in a year with such a shallow pool of free agent goaltenders.
Interestingly enough, it appeared as though the Rangers were not going to issue that qualifying offer, which would have made Georgiev a free agent next week. With Igor Shesterkin in place and several free agents to sign, the team was expected to walk away from their backup if they couldn’t find a trade partner. By landing three picks, general manager Chris Drury has squeezed quite a bit of value out of the last few days of Georgiev’s tenure in New York.
In fact, his time there has been incredibly valuable, relative to the cost that the Rangers paid. Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2017, Georgiev played three seasons with the team under an entry-level contract, two more with a cap hit of $2.45MM, and now netted them three draft picks before he walked out the door.
With a .909 save percentage in 131 NHL games, he doesn’t have a huge track record of success but there have been flashes of brilliance from the netminder, skill the Avalanche will hope to nurture in Colorado. The fact that Francouz has shown the ability to perform at a high level can make them a worthwhile tandem, not to mention the fact that the team itself has been able to overcome poor goaltending performances in the past.
For Colorado, with this core, it’s time to push all the chips to the middle and try to repeat. The team now has no draft picks until the sixth round this year, and are already without six future picks as well. Given the relative youth of so many key players they can afford it, though a gap in prospect development like that can be a tough thing to overcome down the road.
Still, this leaves more money open for some of their other free agent negotiations. Nazem Kadri (UFA), Valeri Nichushkin (UFA), and Artturi Lehkonen (RFA) all played huge parts in the team’s Stanley Cup win, and are deserving of big raises this summer. With a goaltending tandem that could very well cost less combined than Kuemper will make on his own, there are a few more dollars to go around.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
NHL Announces 2022-23 Regular Season Schedule
The news continues to break during what’s been a busy pre-draft week. The NHL has released the full 82-game schedule for the 2022-23 campaign, marking a return to normal dates and length for the first time since 2018-19.
2022-23 will see its curtains open overseas, where the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators will open the season at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czechia on October 7 and 8, 2022. The regular season will begin on the North American side of the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, with a classic doubleheader. The puck will drop at Madison Square Garden for an Eastern Conference Final rematch between the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers, followed by a Pacific Division showdown in Southern California between the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings.
The Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup banner-raising ceremony will be the following night at home against the Chicago Blackhawks. The season will wrap up on April 13, 2023.
Some key events throughout the season include the 2022 Global Series in Tampere, Finland, where the Avalanche and Columbus Blue Jackets will play a pair of games on November 4 and 5, 2022. The 2023 Discover NHL Winter Classic is slated for January 2, 2023, between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins at Fenway Park, and the 2023 NHL Stadium Series is set for February 18, 2023, in Raleigh, North Carolina, where the Hurricanes will host the Washington Capitals. All-Star Weekend will be February 3-4, 2023, hosted by the Florida Panthers.
New York Rangers Extend Julien Gauthier
It’s certainly not the free agent news fans were hoping for in New York, but the Rangers have finished at least one negotiation. Julien Gauthier has signed a new one-year contract extension for the 2022-23 season, avoiding restricted free agency this summer. CapFriendly reported earlier that the deal is worth $800K.
Gauthier, 24, still hasn’t achieved much at the NHL level but did play in 49 games for the Rangers this season. The 2016 first-round pick has just 18 points in 96 career games, not quite what the Carolina Hurricanes had in mind when he was selected 21st overall or what the Rangers believed they were getting in a 2020 trade.
A mix of size and speed that is difficult to find, Gauthier possesses many of the attributes needed to have success at the NHL level. It just hasn’t been put together to this point, though he might get a regular chance to change that this season. With so many Rangers forwards scheduled for unrestricted free agency–Andrew Copp, Greg McKegg, Tyler Motte, Kevin Rooney, Ryan Strome, and Frank Vatrano are all without contracts–there could very well be room for Gauthier in the bottom six.
Even if the team moves to try and extend some of those names, they’ll need inexpensive options at the bottom of the roster. There’s also a notable difference in Gauthier’s status this year: he is no longer waiver-exempt. That means if the team wants to send him to the minor leagues, all 31 other teams would have a chance to claim him and keep him in the NHL.
Latest On Rangers' Search For A Top-Six Center
- The New York Rangers could lose both Andrew Copp and Ryan Strome this summer, two top-six players who were important pieces of the team’s run to the Eastern Conference Final. Those losses will likely leave a hole at the Rangers’ second-line center slot, and the Rangers will need to find a replacement this summer. One way the team can find a replacement is in the trade market, and according to The Athletic’s Arthur Staple, that’s something they’re considering. (subscription link) Per Staple, two league sources noted that center Filip Chytil, the hero of the team’s second-round victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, is the “most talked-about” Ranger in GM Chris Drury‘s trade conversations, and that “the Rangers are willing to lose Chytil in order to acquire an older, more established top-six center.” Chytil, a 2017 first-round pick, is a veteran of over 250 NHL games despite being just 22 years old. He had 22 points in 67 games this season and his strong playoff performance could motivate the Rangers to “sell high” on him if they don’t view him as part of their long-term plans.
- One player who could potentially fill the Rangers’ second-line center need is Calgary Flames pivot Sean Monahan. Per Staple, Monahan “has been discussed in trade talks” with the Rangers. Monahan, 27, has seen his career derailed due to injuries as of late, and was placed on long-term injured reserve following hip surgery. If the Rangers believe in Monahan’s ability to re-discover the form that saw him score between 20 and 30 goals for seven straight seasons, then the Rangers could acquire him at an asset cost that would likely be far lower than the cost it would take to acquire a more in-demand center.
New York Rangers Extend Julien Gauthier
The New York Rangers have made a small dent in their long list of offseason decisions. CapFriendly reports that the team signed winger Julien Gauthier to a one-year, one-way contract extension worth $800,000, noting that Gauthier will still be a restricted free agent next summer with arbitration rights.
Gauthier hasn’t panned out since the Carolina Hurricanes drafted him 21st overall in 2016, dealing him to the Rangers in exchange for defenseman Joey Keane four years later. In three seasons and 91 games with the Rangers now, Gauthier has just five goals, 12 assists, and 17 points. He’ll turn 25 just after the start of next season, meaning that time is running out for Gauthier to become a consistent producer at the NHL level. He has shot just 4.3 percent over his NHL career, though, suggesting his impact has been a bit more positive than his unlucky low goal totals would suggest.
He’s shown the sparse ability to hold it together in a bottom-six role, although he seemed to take a step back this season with a little more ice time. As the Rangers look to capitalize on their ascent to the top of the Eastern Conference food chain, they’re likely getting Gauthier signed so that they can attempt to trade him this offseason. The Athletic’s Arthur Staple did report this morning that both he and goaltender Alexandar Georgiev had requested a trade out of New York.
Rangers Focusing On Trading For Center Help
- As the Rangers look to find their second-line center for next season, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that they have shifted their focus to the trade market. He notes that the team was unable to meet the asking price of Ryan Strome, their second-line pivot for the past four seasons, or Andrew Copp, their prominent trade deadline acquisition. New York has been linked to Jets center Pierre-Luc Dubois although, with just $11MM in cap space per CapFriendly with several roster spots to be filled, it would be difficult for them to afford Dubois’ next contract – he’s a pending restricted free agent – onto their books as it will undoubtedly come in higher than what Strome and Copp receive.
Dylan Garand Named CHL Goalie Of The Year
Prior to the conclusion of the Memorial Cup, the CHL announced their end-of-season award winners with several NHL prospects taking home hardware. Those include Stars forward Logan Stankoven who was named Player of the Year after putting up 45 goals and 59 assists in just 59 games with WHL Kamloops. The 47th pick from the 2021 draft also averaged a goal per game in 17 playoff contests. Still just 19, Stankoven won’t be eligible to play in the AHL next season. Meanwhile, Rangers prospect Dylan Garand was named as Goalie of the Year following a strong showing with Kamloops that saw him post a 32-9-3 record in 45 games with a 2.16 GAA and a .925 SV%. The 20-year-old will turn pro next season.