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The New York Rangers entered free agency with holes to fill and not a lot of cap space to do it.
Rangers general manager Chris Drury made a number of small additions to the roster in free agency, and generally got good reviews for them. The headliners for the Rangers' offseason when it comes to additions are Blake Wheeler, Nick Bonino, Erik Gustafsson and Jonathan Quick, all who signed on one-year deals on the cheap side. Chris Drury needs to work out a deal with restricted free agent Alexis Lafreniere, but all indications are that will get done.
With the departures of Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane this offseason for the Rangers, there are some concerns about the roster. However, there is one area that is more concerning than others. Let's start by looking around the roster to see where the Rangers should be fine, and see others where they could need some help in the season.
First of all, goalie is not a concern as long as you have Igor Shesterkin. Jonathan Quick is a downgrade from Jaroslav Halak, but the Rangers will be fine at goalie with Shesterkin getting the bulk of the playing time.
On defense, the top four is set with Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, K'Andre Miller and Jacob Trouba. Then you have Braden Schneider who is a lock to play on the third pair, and that final sixth spot will either be taken by new signing Gustafsson or Zac Jones. As of now, the favorite should be Gustafsson, as he thrived under new head coach Peter Laviolette in Washington last season. Regardless, the Rangers should be fine on defense.
At center, the Rangers should have some order of Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trochek, Filip Chytil and Nick Bonino. Zibanejad, Trochek and Chytil are all established good players. Zibanejad is the top center easily, while Trochek and Chytil will likely alternate between the second and third lines. Chris Drury signed Nick Bonino this offseason to be the fourth line center, which is the exact type of role he should be in. The Rangers should be fine in this area.
At left wing, the Rangers have Chris Kreider and Artemi Panarin, who are established and not going anywhere. Kreider is a staple next to Zibanejad, and while Panarin received criticism for his playoff performance over the last two seasons, he is one of the top left wingers in the NHL. Former No. 1 pick Alexis Lafreniere is a natural left winger as well. The Rangers might try him on the right side to get him top six minutes though. Regardless, the Rangers have enough at left win.
What is the Rangers' biggest roster concern?
Right wing is the biggest concern for Chris Drury and the Rangers heading into the 2023-2024 season. Wheeler is a lock to play in the top three lines, and most likely will end up in the top six. Kaapo Kakko is finally going to get his chance to play top six minutes this season, and hopefully will get power play time as well.
For the Rangers to take that next step and win a Stanley Cup, they need former top picks in Kakko and Lafreniere to step up. Kakko proved himself to be a solid player last season, but lacked the point totals to show it. He is a strong possession player, and should get more scoring chances on one of the top two lines. Wheeler should put up an adequate amount of points as well.
However, after those two, it is an unknown. As mentioned above, the Rangers might try Lafreniere on the right side to get him more ice time, but it remains to be seen whether that will work or not. If it does not, Lafreniere will be relegated to third-line minutes on the left side. Then the Rangers will have a question mark when it comes to the third line right wing. It would likely be someone like Barclay Goodrow, and if not, then rookie Brendan Othmann could win the job. Either way, that is not the most ideal situation.
The Rangers have traded for right wingers each of the last two seasons. With the way the Rangers' roster is constructed at this point in the offseason, Drury could be looking to add another one midway through the season, whether that be re-signing Kane or making a trade at the deadline.
