The New York Rangers were one of the breakout teams in the 2021-22 NHL season. After missing the playoffs in 2020-21, the Rangers exploded for a 110-point season to finish second in the Metropolitan division. Vein-winning goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who led the league with a .935 save percentage, guided the Blueshirts to their best regular season in seven years.
New York continued to impress in the playoffs. After falling behind 3-1 to Pittsburgh, the Rangers rallied to beat the Penguins, and then the Hurricanes in the second round. They fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final, but this was a stellar first playoff run for this young core.
The Blueshirts made significant changes to their roster in the offseason. While most of the core remains intact, New York’s lineup will look quite different when the new season begins. With that said, here are the full 2022 offseason grades for the Rangers.
Rangers 2022 NHL Offseason Grades
Draft: C
Compared to other leagues, the NHL Draft is much harder to judge right away. Unlike in the NFL and NBA, prospects often take years to make their NHL debut, and many don’t make the league at all. With that in mind, this grade is more of a guess than anything.
The Rangers didn’t have a first-round pick this year, as they traded it to the Jets in the Andrew Copp deal. Instead, they made their first pick in the second round and selected Slovakian forward Adam Sÿkora. They made five other selections later in the draft, four of them forwards.
Likely none of these players will play in the NHL this season, and may take years to reach the team. The lack of a first-round pick hurts this grade, but it’s more of an incomplete than a true C.
Trades: B
The Rangers made two major trades in the offseason. However, both trades involved moving out assets more than bringing them in.
The first big trade came just hours before the 2022 NHL Draft, when the Rangers traded backup goalie Alexandar Georgiev to the Stanley-Cup-champion Colorado Avalanche. In return, New York acquired two third-round picks and a fifth-round pick.
Both teams involved in this trade could end up benefiting. The Rangers traded out a backup goaltender who they likely couldn’t afford and was coming off a down year, and they got assets for him. The Avalanche acquired a potential new starter that cost less than Darcy Kuemper and didn’t have to give up a ton to do it.
The second big deal came about a week later, when the Rangers traded defenseman Patrik Nemeth to the Arizona Coyotes. They acquired prospect Ty Emberson, but also gave up a 2025 second-round pick and another conditional pick.
This move was a pure cap dump, as Nemeth makes $2.5 million for the next two seasons. The veteran defenseman had a very poor season, with just seven points in 63 games. Losing those assets hurts for the Rangers, but ditching Nemeth may be an addition by subtraction.
Overall, the Rangers accomplished their goal in these trades by freeing up cap space. That cap space gave them the chance to go big in free agency, and they did.
Free Agency: C+
First, it’s important to look at what New York lost in free agency. Key players such as Copp, Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano all left for bigger paydays elsewhere. Replacing their production will be tough, but the Rangers hope their new acquisitions can help with that.
The Blueshirts needed a new second-line center, and they got one of the best on the market in Vincent Trocheck. The former Hurricane cost them a premium, signing for seven years at $5.625 million annually. However, Trocheck is a quality player who can easily score over 50 points a season, so he should be worth the price.
Most of New York’s other signings were to shore up the depth. Ryan Carpenter is a decent fourth-liner who can occasionally chip in on offense. They also found a new backup goalie in Jaroslav Halak, who is hoping for a bounce back season after two straight seasons below a .910 save percentage.
The Rangers also re-signed some players from last year’s squad. Libor Hajek and Julien Gauthier are more depth pieces, while Sammy Blais is hoping to return after he missed most of last season with a torn ACL. The two biggest re-signings were former second-overall pick Kaapo Kakko and Vitali Kravtsov, who spent last season in the KHL.
New York accomplished some big goals in acquiring a new 2C and bringing back Kakko. However, it’s difficult to say that the additions outweighed the losses.
Overall Offseason Grade: C+
Overall, the Rangers had a mixed bag of an offseason. The loss of talent will be difficult to overcome, and the new additions aren’t enough by themselves to make up for it. It’s important to remember though that the team had a much-maligned offseason last year as well, and everyone saw how that worked out.
