
It is abundantly clear that the front office feel they can start to be competitive in the postseason with this roster as it is currently constituted, while they can look ahead to 2021 when it comes to adding one or two more big hitters to the mix in order to push them over the top.


NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 21: Brady Skjei #76 of the New York Rangers skates against the New York Islanders at Madison Square Garden on Januin New York City. Henrik Lundqvist may be traded in the summer, too, which would free up even more cap space for the Rangers to take care of business. While the obvious headline will be that the Blueshirts got back another high draft pick to add to their treasure chest, this was a clever cap-saving move.īy shifting Skjei’s cap hit of $5,250,000 off the books, the New York Rangers will now have the flexibility to re-sign the likes of Tony DeAngelo, Alexandar Georgiev, Ryan Strome and maybe even Jesper Fast in the off-season. Those intentions were only crystalized later in the day when the Rangers sent defenseman Brady Skjei to the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2020 first-round pick. You don’t shell out over $45 million over seven years if you think you are still a few years away, so with Kreider staying it is clear that the Rangers are ready to compete and they are ready to start their ascent back to the top table of NHL powerhouses right now. While not completely done, by committing to Kreider for seven years the front office clearly feel that this team is edging closer to becoming a contender. Kreider is now likely to become a forever Ranger after signing a seven-year, $45,500,000 contract, a deal that highlighted the player’s desire to remain a Blueshirt.Īnd, while the news ensured that a bevy of teams had to move on to other targets, the new deal also broadcast to the hockey world that the build is all but over.

With President John Davidson addressing the media, it was announced that Chris Kreider had agreed to remain in The Big Apple, thus removing the biggest prize from the market.
