James van Riemsdyk scored a career-high 62 points last season

Though there remains the possibility of a trade for a center, the dust has mostly settled on the 2017 offseason.

But what might the future hold? There will likely be significant changes again next offseason, when Rick Nash, Michael Grabner, David Desharnais, Nick Holden and Ondrej Pavelec are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents.

Assuming Mika Zibanejad re-signs, that will leave the Blueshirts around $23 million in cap space. A big portion of that will go towards re-upping RFAs J.T. Miller, Kevin Hayes, Jimmy Vesey and Brady Skjei, but there should still be some cash to play with.

Desharnais, Holden and Pavelec are of little concern, but Nash and Grabner both fill key roles on this team and how to keep or replace them will likely shape New York’s offseason strategy. Nash will be 34 years old when July 1, 2018 hits and while he won’t likely approach the $7.8 million cap hit he currently occupies, Nash is still likely to command a multi-year deal with a hefty price tag. Given Gorton’s attempt to rebuild on the fly, it’s hard to figure whether or not he’ll want to keep Nash in the fold.

Grabner will be 30 and also in position to garner a raise and a multi-year pact. His performance this season will dictate Gorton’s interest and Grabner’s earning power, but Grabner seems a bit more likely to stick around given the smaller percentage of the cap he’ll occupy and the reasonable expectation that he still has several strong years left.

As for the free agent market – it’s going to be much more robust than the barren 2017 crop.

New York is unlikely to be on the hunt for defensive help, with four players already earning over $4.3 million annually and Skjei potentially the fifth – plus a slew of prospects on the way. The big prize will be John Carlson, but he’ll probably be in the Kevin Shattenkirk price bracket and out of range even if the Blueshirts buyout or trade Marc Staal

The forward crop, though, is tantalizing. Check out this list of names currently tracking towards the open market: John Tavares, James van Riemsdyk, Mikko Koivu, Joe Thornton, Evander Kane, James Neal, Bryan Little, Patric Hornqvist, Tyler Bozak, David Perron, Mikael Backlund, Kyle Turris, Cam Atkinson, Paul Stastny, the Sedin twins, Josh Bailey, Andrew Cogliano and Jonathan Marchessault.

Sure, many of these players will re-sign with their current clubs long before reaching that point, but there are still going to be a handful of intriguing options available.

Right now there’s a glaring hole at center, but it’s possible that Lias Andersson cements a spot this season and the Blueshirts are satisfied to roll with Andersson, Zibanejad and Hayes going forward. If not, then the group of Little, Bozak, Backlund, Turris, Stastny, Cogliano and Marchessault offers a world of possibilities – and that’s disregarding Tavares, Thornton, Koivu and Henrik Sedin.

But if Andersson does hold his own as a rookie, then making a splash at wing may be the priority. Obviously there have already been plenty of Ilya Kovalchuk connections to the Rangers and it’s a good bet those will continue leading up to next summer. Nash’s money could easily be earmarked for Kovy, but that wouldn’t necessarily assuage the aforementioned concerns about the team’s direction. The most appealing option may prove to be van Riemsdyk, who will surely have plenty of suitors but still has plenty of good years remaining. Atkinson, who trains with the Shattenkirk/Ben Prentiss group also seems like a viable option.

So, considering these two scenarios, here’s a stab at how the depth chart might look around this time next year:

Option 1:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Buchnevich
Vesey-Turris-Zuccarello
Grabner-Hayes-Miller
Nieves-Andersson-Fast

Option 2:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Buchnevich
van Riesmsdyk-Hayes-Zuccarello
Vesey-Andersson-Miller
Grabner-Nieves-Fast

What are your thoughts on how things will play out?

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