jeff gorton

Now that we’re knee deep in the Stanley Cup Final, and it’s looking like the Penguins could do the damn thing, it’s naturally time to start worrying about what comes next. After all, who actually likes watching hockey anyways – it’s all about the crazy offseason machinations leading up to October, right? All jokes aside though, in about two weeks we’ll have a pretty solid look at what GM Jeff Gorton’s general roster construction philosophy is, and that’s a pretty big deal, so here’s a look at a few key dates coming up that’ll give us that inside perspective.

First, and perhaps most consequential, is the buyout period that opens on June 15th. Here is where we’ll see if Gorton has it in him to cut ties with one (or both) of the Rangers’s stalwart defensemen/black hole contracts in Dan Girardi and Marc Staal. I’m fairly certain at least one of them gets bought out, but nonetheless we’ll see whether Gorton really does value speed and skill as much as he seems to on the forward side of things, and whether he gets how addition by subtraction works. It’ll also be telling to see if he buys out both or not – maybe indicating that a trade is still possible for the Wonder Twin left standing (or that he’ll end up making the roster in October, but that’s less exciting).

Next up is June 17th and 18th, when expansion draft protection lists are submitted and made public, respectively. Here we’ll see how Gorton plays his cards and who he values on the team enough to protect. Perhaps more compelling however is the prospect of bribing Las Vegas to take certain players over others, and given the rumor circulating that Vegas has been offered a first round pick to take on an albatross contract it should be very interesting to see how the Rangers play things at this juncture. June 21st is the day that Vegas actually submits their final list to the league and reveals the team during the NHL awards ceremony, so we’ll know by then just what’s gone down.

June 23rd and 24th are the days of the NHL Entry Draft, where we’ll get a better look at how Gorton sees the future of the team and how he’ll try to continue to keep the window open. Josh has the inside scoop on specific prospects to watch out for, but more broadly it’ll be telling whether Gorton goes for high risk/high reward players or safe picks, what positions he looks at the most (no more goalies, please), etc.

June 25th is the deadline for qualifying offers, which will just give us some idea of how Gorton plans on managing the money side of things. Given that the Rangers are right up against the cap it’s important to see how exactly Gorton makes things work, who gets what kind of offer, and so on.

On June 30th the buyout period closes, so by then we’ll know exactly what’s gone down, if anything.

July 1st is free agency, when we’ll see if Gorton is willing or able to land a big fish like Kevin Shattenkirk, and what kind of role players he picks up on the side. Given how savvy he was last year with players like Jooris, Pirri, and Grabner, the not-quite-marquee names might be more interesting than the blockbuster deals, especially if he’s cleared room on defense and is looking for new talent to bring in on the back end.

It’s looking like it’ll be a fun three weeks or so, with rumors circulating that the expansion draft may send the offseason craziness into overdrive and amp up the general level of activity. This should really tell us about how Gorton sees the team, and watching how he navigates the rough seas of the offseason will be if nothing else entertaining. More than just entertainment however, we should hope for the right moves to be made to keep this team’s window open and if possible extended.

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