The NY Rangers 2023 free agency was surprisingly active –and infuriating, thanks Elon– yesterday. All told, the Rangers made a whopping 8 signings yesterday, and not a single player was signed for over $825,000 annually. Due to limited cap space, the Blueshirts could only sign depth players, leading to multiple veteran signings and AHL depth signings. Even with limited space, Chris Drury did a fine, if unspectacular, job yesterday.
The Rangers 2023 free agency was broken into three groups: Expected NHL regulars, expected NHL depth, and AHL depth.
- NHL regulars
- Blake Wheeler: 1 year, $800k with $300k in potential bonuses
- Jonathan Quick: 1 year, $825k, with $100k in potential bonuses
- Erik Gustafsson: 1 year, $825k
- Nick Bonino: 1 year, $800k
- NHL depth
- Tyler Pitlick: 1 year, $787,500
- AHL depth
- Connor Mackey: 1 year, $775k
- Riley Nash: 2 years, $775k
- Alex Belzile: 2 years, $775k
It’s expected that Wheeler will be in the middle six, with the potential to be a 40-60 point player for just $800k. Gustafsson and Bonino will likely be in a third pair/fourth line rotation, respectively. Quick naturally will be the backup goalie.
I can see Riley Nash listed as AHL depth being a point of contention, but he did not play in the NHL at all last year and spent the entire year in the AHL. Based off that, he’s AHL depth. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him compete with Pitlick as the 13/14F, but we will see how camp unfolds.
We will take a deeper dive into the Rangers 2023 free agency class later this week. For now, this was a low risk, medium reward day for Drury.
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