NHL Free Agency: 2 Rangers Could Be Offer Sheet Candidates

The New York Rangers, no matter how their season eventually plays out in the end, will be in for some changes this season. It seems evident that two Rangers could be offer sheet candidates in what might be shaping up as the Summer of the Offer Sheet.

Peter Baugh writes in The Athletic that the Blueshirts will need to move some players out if they are to make major changes to the roster, which they are hoping to do this summer after a chaotic and disappointing season.

And while he suggests the possibilities of trading the likes of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and/or even Artemi Panarin would create oodles of cap space, they may be forced into some tough decisions if they are the victims of offer sheets to a couple of key RFAs that come in over New York's perceived value of the players:

Teams might be more aggressive this summer with offer sheets to restricted free agents given the rising cap, a relatively thin unrestricted free-agent market and the success the St. Louis Blues have had with Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg. Considering the Rangers’ lack of cap flexibility... I wonder if clubs could target players such as (Will) Cuylle or (K'Andre) Miller with offer sheets, just like St. Louis targeted Edmonton last summer.

The 23-year-old Cuylle, coming off his entry-level contract, has shown great improvement from his rookie year to this, his sophomore season, as he has 17 goals through 67 games with a +10 rating. Baugh suggests that the Chicago Blackhawks, who have massive amounts of cap space available, could make a pitch.

If the Rangers are seriously interested in hanging on to one or both of these RFAs, they'd be best off getting extensions done before July 1, or they could be in for a problem.

"What if the Blackhawks offered Cuylle a $4.5 million deal?" asks Baugh. "If the Rangers didn’t match, it would net them only a second-round pick in exchange for one of their better forwards this season. If they did match, their cap flexibility would be even more limited."

The time between the official end of the Rangers 2024-25 campaign on the ice and the start of free agency will be crucial to how their offseason will unfold.