Where do the New York Rangers go from here?
Chris Drury has a lot of decisions to make this summer, and he doesn’t have much flexibility against a relatively flat cap.
New York Rangers general manager faces a situation in which he has just eight of his regular forwards signed for next season, and a number of notables on expiring contracts. That includes Ryan Strome, Andrew Copp and Frank Vatrano — the latter two having really turned the Rangers’ process and improved their depth around the trade deadline. Drury will also have to figure out what makes sense as an extension for Kaapo Kakko, Sammy Blais and Julien Gauthier up front, Libor Hájek on the blue line, and Alexandar Georgiyev in goal.
They also have rental Justin Braun on an expiring contract, but that’s not something they really need to worry about. He’s easily replaceable from within the organization, as long as they think Zac Jones is ready (which, to be fair, he might not be, based on his brief audition).