Are the Rangers done? 5 thoughts on an offseason that's suddenly gone quiet

After a frantic finish that included crowning a new champion, completing the draft and unleashing a free-agent frenzy − all in a matter of one week − the NHL has entered summer vacation mode.

It's an abrupt halt for hockey fans, who, outside of Florida, are left longing for their favorite teams to do more.

The Rangers very firmly fall into that category, with their passionate fanbase still feeling the sting of coming two wins short of the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in three years. They hoped to see team president Chris Drury execute a few bold moves to push a good-but-perhaps-not-great roster over the championship hump, but those ambitious plans have yet to materialize.

Now they're facing the reality that it may not happen this summer.

Some will contend that the Rangers are slightly better with trade-acquisition Reilly Smith replacing the inconsistent Jack Roslovic as a top-six right winger, which is probably true. And from a salary cap perspective, paying Sam Carrick $1 million per season to be your fourth-line center is better than paying Barclay Goodrow over $3.6 million to do the same job. But no one can argue in good faith that those moves change the outlook for a squad that's struggled to keep pace with the league's best at five-on-five for several years running.

There's little question that Drury would like to do more to change that, but the time to strike may have come and gone. The combination of a stubborn trade market, being priced out for top free agents and future cap considerations (specifically looking ahead to next summer) left him with an unfulfilled wish list.

It's hard to figure out where he turns at this stage of the offseason. The NHL has gone quiet, with all the impact UFAs off the board and trades increasingly hard to come by. Last year, between July 4 and the start of training camp in mid-September, there were six total trades, with only two involving a legitimate top-six forward or top-four defenseman − Alex DeBrincat going from Ottawa to Detroit on July 9 and Erik Karlsson from San Jose to Pittsburgh on Aug. 6.

Can Drury uncover one of those rare impact deals in the dog days of summer? The search is ongoing, but the odds seem slim.

The primary issue is that there doesn't seem to be much available. Many folks have their eyes on the Winnipeg Jets, but multiple reports have suggested they're deep in talks to send forward Nikolaj Ehlers to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Maybe there's common ground to be found with the Anaheim Ducks, who many believe wanted to do more this offseason − and we know they've had prior conversations with the Rangers about 37-goal-scorer Frank Vatrano, among others. But they could also hold him and hope for even higher bids when teams get desperate at trade-deadline time.

The Rangers are on track to be one of those anxious suitors. They should be able to accrue enough cap space to chase almost any deadline target they want, but whether they have the assets to pull off a big trade is another story. Their draft capital has been gutted in recent years, with only five total picks across rounds 1-4 of the next three drafts combined.

That's the price you pay for selling off parts every March in exchange for two-or-three-month rentals, yet they appear to be heading down that path once again.

Ryan Lindgren, Braden Schneider updates

The only remaining business items we can comfortably predict will happen this summer involves the Rangers’ final two NHL restricted free agents, defensemen Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider.

Word is that they're making progress with Schneider on a bridge deal (likely two or three years) for an average annual value in the range of $2.5 million, according to one person with knowledge of the situation who spoke to lohud.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, under the condition of anonymity.

The situation may be a bit trickier with Lindgren. Both sides want to continue the relationship, and it's not like the Rangers have many alternatives now that all the realistic UFA options have been scooped up. There's confidence they'll get something done, but not before some back-and-forth haggling.

AAV doesn't the seem to be the issue as much as term. Lindgren's qualifying offer is a manageable $3.6 million, with a chance they end up landing closer to $4 million. Indications are he'd be open to a long-term deal somewhere in that range, but there's understandable hesitation to commit too many years to a player who endures a lot of wear and tear due to his fearless style of play.

That's why it would make some sense for the Rangers to go down the arbitration road. It may not be the most likely outcome, but it would allow them to keep an important defenseman in place without taking on risk beyond this coming season.

Jacob Trouba fallout

Three days after Lindgren's situation is resolved − either by settling on a new contract or awarding arbitration − the Rangers will have access to a second buyout window.

Don't expect them to use it.

For starters, they don't need to. They're sitting on nearly $9 million in available salary cap space, and even if Lindgren and Schneider eat around $6.5 million of it, they'll still have $2.5 million to spare.

Given their limited free-agent activity, cap space is not an issue at the moment.

It's plausible that the Rangers would have been more aggressive with UFAs had they been able to move Jacob Trouba (and his hefty contract) by July 1, but accepting the future penalties associated with buying out the captain was never much of a consideration. Trading him most certainly was, but those possibilities appear to be squashed for now.

Meanwhile, the discourse surrounding Trouba has gone from uncomfortable to disturbing in certain corners of the internet. No athlete is immune to performance criticisms and trade rumors, but placing blame on their family and splashing names across headlines is misguided and irresponsible.

The Rangers are well within their right to conclude that Trouba's $8 million AAV would be better spent elsewhere and search for ways to clear his salary. It's a case we've already laid out while acknowledging it wasn't going to be easy. But it's also well within the player's right to use their contractual power to do what's best for their family. Trouba's agent, Kurt Overhardt, was apparently aggressive in those efforts, outmaneuvering the Rangers to get his client what he wanted. That's what agents are supposed to do.

Drury took a swing and missed on this one, and now he's dealing with the fallout. He stopped short when asked if Trouba will stay on last week's Zoom call with reporters − "I'm not going to go through it player by player, who's going to be or who's not going to go be here," he said − but the damage control has been obvious. The two sides seem resigned to trudging on together.

Quite frankly, the Rangers don't have many other places to turn. Even if they traded Trouba today, who would replace him in their lineup? The next right-handed defenseman on their depth chart is newly signed Casey Fitzgerald, a 27-year-old with only 63 games of NHL experience.

It'll be somewhat awkward − the team dynamic is "messy right now," according to one league source, given the Trouba drama and the devious manner in which Goodrow was waived to work around San Jose being on his 15-team no-trade list − but from a cap standpoint, they can afford to keep him for this coming season and hope for better results in a reduced 5v5 role. (And with a healthy ankle.)

Beyond that, it gets complicated.

It'll be extremely difficult to roster Trouba in 2025-26, the final year of his deal, while also handing out expensive new contracts to pending free-agents Alexis Lafrenière, K'Andre Miller and Igor Shesterkin. But by then, it may be easier to find a trade partner who isn't on Trouba's no-trade list, given that they'd only be committing to him for one year. And if they can't, Drury can reconsider a less costly buyout. It would come with $4 million in savings that season (and a remaining $4 million cap hit), followed by a one-year cap penalty of $2 million in 2026-27.

Zac Jones' long-awaited opportunity

An emerging story that's received far less attention centers around Trouba's potential D partner.

Erik Gustafsson signed a two-year, $4 million deal with Detroit last week, leaving the door wide open for Zac Jones to step in as the regular left-handed defenseman on the bottom pair. The Rangers will likely bring in a low-cost veteran between now and training camp for depth and competition, but their lack of urgency to land one early in free agency signaled their growing faith in Jones.

The 23-year-old has patiently paid his dues the last couple years, often as a healthy scratch, and may finally be getting his chance. He earned it with a strong finish while Gustafsson and Trouba were injured last season, convincing Blueshirts' brass he's ready for the challenge of a full-time role.

There is still work to be done, as evidenced by a modest nine points (two goals and seven assists) in 31 games played and a 48.3% xGF, according to Natural Stat Trick. Many still question the 5-foot-10, 176-pounder's strength and ability to clear the net front, but that's where Trouba could provide balance if the partnership materializes.

Where Jones can help is by efficiently advancing pucks. He's the Rangers' best passing defenseman after Adam Fox, with the hands, vision and mobility to improve zone entries and exits for a D corps that's struggled in those areas. Doing it for a team-friendly $812,500 cap hit adds to the appeal.

Projecting the forward group

The forwards will have a similar run-it-back look, with a couple changes along the fringes and a few young guys knocking on the door.

Barring a trade for a high-end winger, the top six is pretty much set. The true top line will remain intact with Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Lafrenière, with Smith getting the first chance to fill the ever-present RW void next to Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. The underlying numbers have been positive for the 33-year-old former Cup champ at pretty much every stop, including a 53.08% xGF in what was considered a down year with Pittsburgh last season, but he's not a cure-all play driver. The onus remains on Kreider and Zibanejad to create more offense at 5v5 if the Rangers are going to reach the promised land.

It sure looks like they'll be relying on Filip Chytil to anchor the third line. It feels like a lot to ask for a player who missed 72 regular-season games and has a concerning history of concussions, but Drury declined to bring in much insurance. He signed Carrick to replace Goodrow and otherwise stood pat at a critical position. Center remains the thinnest spot in the organization, with Jonny Brodzinski and little else behind the top four. That adds to the importance of keeping Chytil on the ice.

There are more options on the wing. Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko are the incumbents on the third line, which would leave Jimmy Vesey and Matt Rempe as the leading candidates to sandwich Carrick on the fourth. But if a prospect like Brennan Othmann breaks through at training camp, you could conceive a third line featuring him, Chytil and Kakko, with Cuylle sliding down to play with Carrick and Vesey.

The lack of signings increases the chances for Othmann, Rempe, Brett Berard or Adam Edström to carve out a role this season. It's probably fourth line-or-bust for Rempe and Edström, but Othmann and Berard have the potential to play higher up in the lineup. And while Othmann understandably has more prospect glow as a former first-round pick, don't sleep on Berard, either. He led AHL Hartford with 25 goals and told me at development camp last week he's rooming for the summer with close friend and budding Seattle Kraken star Matty Beniers. The plan is to train with the 2023 Calder Trophy winner and gear up to make a run at NHL spot this coming season.

The Rangers have typically shied away from using more than one or two rookies at a time, especially during this win-now period, but they're proceeding as if they're comfortable with those prospects as their most immediate depth. All four could receive opportunities to prove themselves before trade-deadline decisions must be made.

Even more ice time could be available if Kakko is ultimately traded, but one source indicated the Blueshirts weren't thrilled with the offers that came in around the draft. Teams were trying to buy low on the former No. 2 overall pick, with Drury rightly holding off unless someone ups the ante.

Given the current depth chart we just laid out, the Rangers can't afford to give him away for peanuts. They'd need an NHL-caliber player in return to fill the resulting hole in the lineup, otherwise they should hold Kakko and hope this is the year it all comes together. Of course, a breakout season would increase his contract demands heading into what's already going to be a tight 2025 summer, but it would also bolster his value on the trade market.

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.