The Rangers don’t look desperate for another big free-agent swing, but the forward group still has some room to breathe. If New York wants to keep young players developing in Hartford, or if it’s leaning hard into the retool rather than a full rebuild, there are still ways to sharpen the roster.
The trade market probably offers the cleanest fix. But the open market isn’t empty, either.
A glance at the current forward depth shows a group that can probably survive opening night as constructed:
Perreault - Zibanejad - Dorofeyev
Lafreniere - Miller - Bjorkstrand
Cuylle - Laba - Sykora
Kartye - Veleno - Chmelar
Raddysh - Parssinen - Rempe
Roobroeck - McConnell-Barker - Greentree
Blidh - Beaudoin - Lamb
Aspinall - Gawdin - Battaglia
Thompson - Dowling - Terrance
Oliver Bjorkstrand gives the top six more shape and pushes Will Cuylle down to the third line. From there, the Rangers have some flexibility: Adam Sykora could move up, Taylor Raddysh could stay in a limited role, and Tye Kartye, Sykora and Jaroslav Chmelar could rotate through the fourth-line wing spots with Joe Veleno in the middle. Matt Rempe and Jusso Parssinen are still there as depth options, and there’s a real chance Liam Greentree or Brody Lamb could crack the roster out of camp.
Even with all that in place, there’s still a case for adding another forward. If the Rangers want Bjorkstrand lower in the lineup, want to move on from Raddysh, or simply want more depth, a few names remain worth a look.
Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko sit at the top of that list.
Yes, the “been there, done that” reaction is obvious. It’s still strange to think back on the fact that both Kane and Tarasenko were Rangers, and that the one year in a three-year stretch without a Conference Final run was the one in which they were in New York. Even so, a one-year deal with either player could still make sense given the Rangers’ current roster and the state of the market.
What the Rangers still need, almost as much as puck-moving defensemen, is someone who can put the puck in the net with consistency and confidence. Kane and Tarasenko both do that. They also bring the kind of resume that matters in a young room, with multiple Stanley Cups and plenty of high-pressure experience.
Kane is the name that will draw the loudest reaction. Fans have been calling for a reunion since the postseason began.
He’s coming off a 57-point season with the Detroit Red Wings, finishing with 16 goals and 41 assists in 67 games. He turns 38 this November and will be entering his 20th season once he signs with a team.
There’s a fit there on paper. His style could work alongside Alexis Lafrenière on the left and J.T.
Miller in the middle. But the questions are obvious, too.
Kane is at the stage of his career where you have to wonder how much is left, and whether the Rangers are even the right landing spot for him now. New York needs goals, sure, but it also needs to be faster, more physical and more reliable defensively.
That’s not really Kane’s lane.
Tarasenko brings a slightly different case. He’s younger, and he may actually fit the Rangers better right now.
He finished last season with 23 goals in 75 games in Minnesota, so he scored more often than Kane even if his point total was lower. Some of the same concerns apply, but Tarasenko does bring a bit more speed and physicality.
The bigger issue is what he wants next. After bouncing around as much as he has since leaving New York, he may be looking for more than a short-term deal.
That could be a tough match for a Rangers team that’s still figuring out exactly what it wants to be.
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And that is what makes the what-if around Panarin linger. If he had stayed, the Rangers reset would have looked very different, from the kinds of deals they could pursue to the assets they could keep in reserve for bigger swings elsewhere. Even the idea of redirecting those saved pieces into a pursuit of Dylan Larkin hangs over the discussion, which is why this trade still feels less like a single transaction and more like the hinge point of the whole offseason. [Read more 🡒]