The New York Rangers now have a hard date hanging over their Braden Schneider negotiations, and it comes straight from PuckPedia’s newly released arbitration calendar. Schneider’s hearing is set for Wednesday, July 29, putting him near the back end of the RFA cases scheduled to run from July 20 through August 1.
That timing gives both sides a little more runway to hammer out a deal before they ever get in front of an arbitrator. If they do end up in the room, the Rangers would get to choose the length of the contract. Still, that outcome looks unlikely given the team’s track record.
Schneider is coming off a season that, by the numbers, was uneven. Evolving-Hockey had him at a 46.28 GF%, 45.44 CF%, and a 44.61 xGF%.
He has played 368 games for the Rangers, and this past season included a heavy dose of top-pair minutes. But the recent trade for Sean Durzi says plenty about where Schneider stands now.
If he stays in New York, the expectation is that the 2020 first-round pick would slide into a third-pair role.
There’s also a roster-building wrinkle here. The Rangers used the fifth overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft on Alberts Smits, and there’s a real chance he could crack the lineup out of training camp.
If that happens, the club would prefer not to have Smits paired with Schneider. The idea is to give their newest top defense prospect room to play to his strengths, and that setup, as the situation stands, does not seem to include Schneider.
For now, the focus is on the numbers each side will put forward. New York is expected to come in lower, while Schneider will aim higher.
AFP Analytics projects his next contract at one year and $4.09 million, a sizable jump from the $2.2 million he just made. His qualifying offer was $2.64 million.
The expectation here is that the Rangers open around $3.75 million, while Schneider’s camp pushes for $5 million or more.
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