NHL
NHL Offseason
Alexis Lafrenière, left, is probably staying put with the Rangers. Braden Schneider faces more uncertainty. Elsa / Getty Images
A flurry of big-name transactions on Tuesday inserted an extra dose of excitement into the NHL offseason. Two days after Brady Tkachuk went from Ottawa to Florida, the likes of Šimon Nemec, Jordan Kyrou, William Eklund and Bowen Byram all changed teams, as did the No. 4 and No. 9 positions in this week’s NHL Draft.
Advertisement
The Rangers — hoping to be players this summer — were quiet through all of it. Prices are high for teams looking to buy, and team president Chris Drury has yet to trade Vincent Trocheck, Braden Schneider or any of his other potential chips. But with the draft beginning Friday and free agency opening July 1, transactions are surely on the way.
We’ve been working the phones to figure out where the Rangers stand. Here’s what we’ve gathered.
Trocheck changed agents last week, moving to Pat Brisson with CAA. Brisson is arguably the sport’s biggest agent, and Trocheck — after nearly getting dealt at the March trade deadline — is entrusting him to facilitate a desirable move this summer. The center is No. 3 on The Athletic’s latest trade board and was held out of the last game before the deadline for roster management purposes. Drury kept Trocheck then, believing he could get more over the summer. Now that the offseason is here, the pressure is ramping up.
Trocheck’s contract is for three more years at a reasonable $5.625 million cap hit, and the Rangers have made clear they don’t have to trade him. But the league-wide expectation is a move will happen. Given the center’s age (he’ll turn 33 on July 11), the fact that Artemi Panarin will no longer be on his wing and helping his production numbers, and the acquisition costs we saw Tuesday, it’s hard to see the Rangers getting a better return than they can this summer.
New York held Trocheck at the deadline, hoping for a package that included a young roster player. Drury is still seeking that, but if the market doesn’t deliver, perhaps he’ll have to settle for the equivalent of a first-round pick and a prospect. It will depend on what the negotiating teams have available, and that list may be dwindling.
Minnesota, a long-rumored fit, has faded as a suitor. Do Pittsburgh, Trocheck’s hometown team, and Boston really want to pay the acquisition cost, given where they are in their respective contention cycles? It seems doubtful at a time when both teams are focused on building for the future.
Advertisement
Dylan Larkin’s trade request has changed the landscape for Detroit, so it’s hard to see the Red Wings — once a potential landing spot — making sense unless they want to make a win-now pivot. (The Rangers, for what it’s worth, would probably benefit from a Larkin trade happening sooner rather than later. That would vault Trocheck back to the top of the available centers list. But Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman has given no indication he is in a rush.)
Carolina held interest in Trocheck ahead of the March deadline, and could again in the summer, though the Hurricanes just won the Stanley Cup with Sebastian Aho, Logan Stankoven and Jordan Staal — all under contract for next year — up the middle. The Sabres could also look to add at forward, especially after GM Jarmo Kekäläinen announced the team couldn’t reach an extension with top-six forward Alex Tuch. And while we were told there were no talks with Montreal as of a couple of weeks ago, we’re curious about whether the Canadiens’ desire to add a second-line center could break down the barriers between Drury and his predecessor, current Montreal president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton.
The Maple Leafs, motivated to add around Auston Matthews and having already made a big Darren Raddysh acquisition, have also engaged with the Rangers about Trocheck, league sources told The Athletic’s Chris Johnston.
Trocheck has a 12-team no-trade list that goes down to 10 teams July 1, per PuckPedia. He has some control over his situation and was open about his desire to stay East, closer to family. Even if that remains his preference, he has grown more open to the idea of some Western Conference teams. Clubs such as Anaheim, Los Angeles and Utah all could look to upgrade up the middle and are viewed as teams to monitor. The Ducks and Mammoth, in particular, have a strong stock of potential trade chips.
The expectation is that Alexis Lafrenière will remain with the team heading into next season, according to two league sources (who, as with the rest in this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes matters). The Rangers have been listening to trade offers but are not actively shopping the 24-year-old winger and plan to keep him unless they get blown away.
Advertisement
New York is looking to add scoring forwards, not subtract them, and Lafrenière is one of the few they have in the organization. He struggled in the first half of the 2025-26 season, causing Drury to gauge the market for the former No. 1 pick, but now the Rangers are hoping he can build on a strong finish. Lafrenière had 28 points (14 goals and 14 assists) in his final 27 games, which led the team during that span. His budding chemistry on the first line with veteran Mika Zibanejad and top prospect Gabe Perreault aided the cause, and that trio is likely to stick together entering 2026-27.
Lafrenière has six years remaining on a contract that carries an average annual value of $7.45 million, which could end up providing good value as the salary cap rises if he can maintain his second-half performance.
There’s more uncertainty surrounding fellow 2020 first-round pick Schneider.
Contract talks have been quiet between New York and the 24-year-old defenseman, according to a league source, just as they were earlier this month. Schneider is the team’s most notable restricted free agent, but the Rangers are presumably focused on other orders of business during the busiest period of the NHL offseason.
They’ve explored trade options for Schneider but have signaled they don’t want to move a valued piece strictly for draft picks. Their preference is a young forward with offensive upside. A scorching seller’s market suggests this may be the time to strike, but it’s unclear whether any team is willing to meet that price for a right-handed defenseman who checks a lot of boxes but has yet to put together consistent results.
Schneider appeared in all 82 games last season and averaged a career-high 20:27 time on ice, but he registered only 18 points (two goals and 16 assists) and a 43.26 percent expected-goals rate that ranked last among New York’s regular skaters, according to Natural Stat Trick. He holds arbitration rights if it gets to that point, and AFP Analytics projects an AAV of around $4 million on a short-term deal and around $6 million if they go long term.
The Rangers have demonstrated some interest in unrestricted free agent Ville Heinola, according to a league source. The 25-year-old, drafted No. 20 by Winnipeg in 2019, is a puck-moving defenseman with 58 games of NHL experience. He played five NHL games with the Jets in 2025-26 but spent most of the season with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, for whom he had 21 points in 44 games. After the season, he won gold with the Finnish team at the World Championship, scoring three goals and six points in 10 games.
Advertisement
Heinola makes sense as a type of player for the Rangers to pursue. Coach Mike Sullivan mentioned wanting to add puck-moving ability to his blue line, and Heinola has the potential to bring that. He still has the skills that made him a first-round pick and perhaps could find a role with a new organization. If the Rangers sign him, it would be a low-risk move. They have ample cap space, and in the worst-case scenario they would put him on waivers and either lose him or send him to the AHL.
Sullivan also mentioned wanting the Rangers to bolster their bottom six. Pending Buffalo UFA Beck Malenstyn — a strong-skating 28-year-old winger with a penchant for hitting — could be a potential target should he reach the market. The bigger on-paper need is at center, where New York is seeking a fourth-line replacement for Sam Carrick, who was traded to Buffalo in March.
The landscape of the 2026 draft is changing rapidly. Outside of Gavin McKenna probably going to Toronto with the No. 1 pick, everything appears in flux.
What the Sabres will do after acquiring the No. 4 pick from Chicago is the subject of intense interest around the league. Even after moving Byram, they still have Norris Trophy finalist Rasmus Dahlin and 2021 No. 1 pick Owen Power on the left side of their defense. They used last year’s top-10 pick on right-handed defenseman Radim Mrtka, with prospects Adam Kleber, Maxim Strbák and Vsevolod Komarov also coming through the pipeline at that position. Their bigger need is clearly at forward, but it’s possible an ascending Buffalo team attempts to trade the pick for immediate help. A league source told colleague Scott Wheeler, “Think they might use it for something.”
Meanwhile, the outlook has shifted in San Jose. The Sharks dealing Eklund seemed to set them up nicely to take Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg at No. 2 and snag a defenseman such as Daxon Rudolph or Keaton Verhoeff at No. 9, but GM Mike Grier is mulling trade offers for the second pick. He told reporters Tuesday that five teams have been seriously involved in those discussions.
Adding to the chaos is a growing sentiment that Vancouver could pass on top center prospect Caleb Malhotra at No. 3. The Canucks have been linked to him from the start of the process, but some doubts have trickled out since they hired his father, Manny, as their new coach. Are they real? Or is it a smokescreen?
Malhotra falling to No. 5 would be a dream scenario for the Rangers. Those odds may be slightly increasing, but even if he makes it past Vancouver, he would surely be in the conversation for Buffalo (or whoever is picking fourth).
Advertisement
What if Chase Reid slips to No. 5? He’s the top-ranked defenseman according to both Wheeler and Corey Pronman, but it’s not a given that New York would prefer the 6-foot-2 righty over the left-handed defensemen we’ve previously linked them to, Carson Carels and Alberts Šmits.
We’ve seen some speculation on defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov’s situation. While Gavrikov didn’t have an easy transition coming to the Rangers, he hasn’t asked for a trade, according to a league source, and it’s hard to see New York looking to move him after signing him to a seven-year deal last summer, especially considering he had a career-high 14 goals and averaged nearly 24 minutes of ice time per game in his first season with the team.
Dylan Garand signed a two-year, $875,000 AAV extension with the Rangers on Sunday. The expectation in the deal’s aftermath is that the 24-year-old will get a legitimate shot at an NHL roster spot, according to a league source.
Jonathan Quick backed up star Igor Shesterkin the past three seasons, but Quick’s retirement leaves a hole at the No. 2 goalie spot on the depth chart. Garand and Spencer Martin, who is on a one-way deal, are the only realistic options for the job under contract. The Rangers have an organizational decision to make if they want to add another depth goalie to the mix.
Garand’s waiver status could work to his advantage in the goalie competition. He is no longer exempt, meaning the club would have to risk putting him on waivers and potentially losing him for nothing if it wants to send him to AHL Hartford.
The New York Post reported Wednesday that Brett Berard is looking for a “change of scenery.” But the 23-year-old has not requested a trade from the team, his agent Brian Bartlett told The Athletic.
A move could make sense, though. Berard is no longer waiver exempt, and the Rangers have a glut of young bottom-six wingers. He wouldn’t bring in a sizable return — he has only six goals and 10 points in 48 career NHL games — but getting back something would beat losing him for nothing if he is claimed on waivers. There are teams interested in him.
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms
Find the hidden link between sports terms
Play today's puzzle
Leave a Reply