Will Cuylle has wasted no time making his presence felt for the Rangers this season. He looks bigger, stronger, and faster, and he’s bringing exactly the kind of nasty edge that fits a throwback power forward. The early returns have been strong, too: six points in eight games.
That production is only part of the story. The bigger issue is what comes next.
Cuylle is 25 when the season ends and is in the second year of a two-year deal that pays him $3.9 million per year. After that, he’ll be a restricted free agent, and the question becomes simple: what is he worth?
That was the debate Joe and Eric had on this week’s episode of Blueshirt Bandwidth. Eric pegged him at $8 million, while Joe said he’d be comfortable around $5 million per year. The view here is that Eric is right - and that Joe is right to call it a problem.
The Rangers are heading into the summer with about $33 million in cap space and 13 players already under contract. That sounds workable until you look at the list of pending free agents. It includes Gabe Perreault, Tye Kartye, Eeli Tolvanen, Noah Laba, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Braden Schneider, Joseph Veleno, Jaroslav Chmelar, Matthew Rempe, Scott Morrow, and Adam Sykora.
Tolvanen, Bjorkstrand, and Veleno are unrestricted free agents. The rest are restricted.
And while some of those names look like obvious candidates to move on from, others absolutely do not. Beyond Cuylle, the most important decisions will revolve around Perreault, Kartye, Schneider, and Laba.
Perreault alone is projected to land a contract that costs the Rangers more than $12 million per season, if they’re lucky. That would leave $21 million to handle the rest of the roster. If Cuylle eats up $8 million of that, the math gets tight fast.
The numbers only get worse if Kartye and Laba each come in around $3.5 million. At that point, the Rangers would be down to $6 million with 18 players under contract.
Add in Cole Beaudoin and Liam Greentree on entry-level deals for less than $1 million apiece, and the picture improves a little - but not much. That still leaves the team with 18 players and just $4 million left to work with.
In Other News...
Rangers' Hot Start Is Changing One Big Offseason Pressure
The Rangers have spent the first few weeks of the season making a pretty strong case that their offense can carry more weight than expected, even with Igor Shesterkin out for the year. A 6-3-0 start has been built on depth and production across the forward group, with Alexis Lafreniere setting the tone and multiple skaters chipping in early. For a team that entered the year with questions about how much firepower it could really count on, the opening stretch has offered a reassuring answer.
It also changes the way the front office has to look at next offseason. The market for top scoring forwards was already shaping up to be tight, and some of the names that might have fit the Rangers' wish list are no longer likely to be available after agreeing to long-term extensions. That leaves New York in a familiar spot, with a hot start improving the mood now, while also narrowing the pathways to adding more punch later. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Blue Line Problem Is Turning Into A Bigger Lineup Debate
Through nine games, the Rangers blue line has started to look less like a settled unit and more like a nightly puzzle. The staff has been leaning on Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi in a shutdown role against top competition, but the pairing has not delivered the kind of steadiness the club needs when the matchups get heavy, and the numbers around zone starts, shot share and chances against have only sharpened the discussion.
With the early sample now large enough to raise real questions, the conversation has shifted from simple pairing preference to lineup construction. There are ways to reshuffle the defense and try to find cleaner fits, but the bigger picture remains tangled because Scott Morrows clearest path into the lineup does not appear to be through a routine rotation. For now, the Rangers are left weighing whether a change on the back end needs to come from reworking combinations or waiting for a more significant opening. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Forward Shuffle Opens Door For Another Veteran Chance
The Rangers early-season injury fallout has already forced a steady series of roster adjustments, and the latest shuffle on the forward side gives another veteran a chance to step back into the lineup. With Igor Shesterkin out for the season and James Reimer brought in on a PTO to help stabilize the goaltending situation, New York has had to patch holes wherever it can while also leaning more heavily on Dylan Garand.
On the skaters side, the moves have opened the door for Taylor Raddysh to get another look after time in Hartford, while the team continues to juggle young depth around him. The Rangers also had to sort out additional roster spots by moving Cole Beaudoin back to Hartford and bringing up Justin Dowling, a set of transactions that reflects how quickly the depth chart is shifting as the club tries to stay afloat through an ugly stretch of injuries. [Read more 🡒]