If the New York Rangers are looking for a reason to feel good about the future, the cleanest one is right there in the cap sheet. They currently have only four forwards signed beyond the 2026-27 season, which gives them real room to shape the roster down the line.
In The Athletic, Vincent Z. Mercogliano made the case that some of that flexibility ought to go toward locking up Gabriel Perreault for the long haul.
Perreault’s rookie season gave the Rangers plenty to build on. The 21-year-old, who went 23rd overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, finished 2025-26 with 12 goals and 27 points in 49 games while averaging 15:59 of ice time per night. He was one of the few bright spots in what the article described as the 2025-26 campaign, and if he stays in a top-six role in 2026-27, he should get every chance to top those numbers.
That’s what makes his contract situation worth watching. Perreault is set to become a restricted free agent next summer unless he signs an extension before then. There’s no urgency for him to force the issue right now, but another strong season could set him up for a major payday with the Rangers.
Elsewhere around the Metropolitan Division, the Flyers are heading into 2026-27 with a blue line that looks almost unchanged from last season. The one move they did make was swapping Emil Andrae out and bringing in Simon Benoit in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Even with that stability, Philadelphia is expecting camp competition and is banking on internal growth to change the shape of its defense.
General Manager Daniel Brière said in a new article from Jordan Hall of NBC Sports that youngsters David Jiříček and Oliver Bonk will get every opportunity to win spots on the opening-night roster.
And in a separate development, Russian goaltender Alexander Smolin said in an interview with Mikhail Skryl from Sports Express that he drew NHL interest this offseason, with the New Jersey Devils showing particular interest. Smolin said it was unlikely he would have landed anything bigger than an AHL deal, and he told the Devils that he wanted to stay in the KHL for the foreseeable future. Even so, he could be on NHL radars again next summer after putting together a 39-14-4 record in 65 games with a .920 SV% and 2.21 GAA across his KHL career.
In Other News...
Flyers May Have A Buy Low Center Option Worth Watching
The Flyers search for a top-six center is already shaping up to be one of the bigger roster questions heading into the 2026-27 season, and it has opened the door to some buy-low possibilities around the league. One name worth keeping in the conversation is Connor Zary, a young center in Calgary whose profile fits the kind of swing Philadelphia could explore if it wants to add upside without paying full price.
Zary has shown enough in his past work to suggest there could still be another level to unlock, which is exactly why he is drawing trade buzz. For a Flyers team trying to map out its future down the middle, a player like that makes sense as a candidate to watch, even if the fit and the cost end up determining whether the idea goes any further. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers 2020 Draft Class Says Plenty About How That Era Went
The 2020 NHL Draft was supposed to be a meaningful pivot point for the Flyers, a chance to restock the pipeline and give the organization a cleaner future. Instead, looking back at that class now says a lot about how uneven that era turned out to be. Philadelphia made five selections, and while Tyson Foerster has grown into a notable contributor at the NHL level, the rest of the group has mostly taken a more complicated path through pro hockey.
Emil Andrae did reach the NHL before eventually being dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs, while the other picks have spent their time largely in the AHL and ECHL, with some no longer in the Flyers organization at all. It is the kind of draft haul that reflects both the hope teams attach to that weekend and the long, often messy reality that follows, especially for a club still sorting through the legacy of those years. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Still Have One Intriguing Young Center Trade Option
The Flyers still have work to do if they want to add more young center depth, and the search does not have to stop with free agency or the draft. Philadelphia can still poke around the trade market, where age and upside matter just as much as immediate help, and that keeps a few intriguing names in play for a club trying to build a deeper middle down the line.
One possible path runs through San Jose, where a promising young center has started to turn a strong AHL season into real attention around the league. For the Flyers, the appeal is obvious: a player with size, skill and room to grow could fit the kind of long-term roster puzzle they are trying to solve. The harder part is getting him out of an organization that has every reason to value what he brings, which is why this remains more of an idea than a completed move for now. [Read more 🡒]