Examining the upcoming New York Rangers roster crunch

The New York Rangers are intent on earnestly competing for the team’s first Stanley Cup championship since 1994 next season. With precious little cap space to augment their roster this summer, the team made the decision to focus on signing an experienced group of players to occupy roles lower in their lineup and bolster the organization’s depth.

Although the Rangers’ 2023 free agent class is headlined by a star winger in Blake Wheeler, it is populated mostly with players likely to win jobs in the team’s third or fourth forward line and third defensive pairing. The structure of the Rangers’ cap sheet warrants these kinds of signings, as the team has most of its available cap space locked away in its impressive core of star players, such as Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin, and Mika Zibanejad.

Understanding that the team wouldn’t be able to invest much money to sign top-of-the-line role players (especially seeing as the team already did exactly that in the summer of 2022, signing Barclay Goodrow to a $3.6M AAV deal), Rangers GM Chris Drury seems to have bought into the idea that assembling a group of experienced depth players who will have to compete with one another for the few open NHL jobs available on the team is the best way for his Rangers club to build impressive lineup depth.

As we approach Rangers training camp next month, these free agent signings have set the stage for what will likely be some intense, highly competitive battles for the few roster spots up for grabs on new head coach Peter Laviolette’s opening-night roster. One of the most important spots set to be fought over in camp and the preseason is on the team’s defense, where a spot on the third pairing next to 2020 first-rounder Braden Schneider as well as the role as the team’s seventh defenseman needs to be filled. 

Looking at the Rangers’ defensive depth chart, offseason signing Erik Gustafsson likely enters the preseason with the best chance of securing the third-pairing role next to Schneider.

The 31-year-old Swede is an offensive defenseman who played under Laviolette with the Washington Capitals last season. He scored a total of 42 points in 70 games last season, and it was a surprise to see him receive only a $825k guarantee from the Rangers earlier this summer.

Experienced 42-point defensemen who also have a 60-point season on their resume typically go at far higher prices, but it’s likely that the bouts of inconsistency Gustafsson has had throughout his career have lowered his price tag. In 2021-22, Gustafsson only managed 18 points in 59 games for the Chicago Blackhawks and even began the season on a PTO with the New York Islanders.

His stock leaguewide has fluctuated to an extreme degree since he arrived in North America from the SHL’s Frölunda HC nearly a decade ago, so while Gustafsson likely has the early lead for a regular role next to Schneider, he’s far from a certainty to ultimately see his name listed on the Rangers’ opening-night lineup.

Gustafsson will have to compete with a group of other blueliners for one of those roster spots, including 22-year-old 2019 third-round pick Zac Jones. Jones has been a difference-maker at the AHL level (31 points in 54 games last season) but hasn’t quite made his mark in the NHL.

He’s no longer waiver-exempt and would be a likely candidate to get claimed on season-opening waivers, so the Rangers will have to factor that into their roster-making calculus and that could give him a leg up over other, more experienced players.

Earlier this month, we covered how Jones could be a preseason trade candidate if he falls behind in the training camp battle against the Rangers’ other defensemen, so in the mix of all of the Rangers’ new arrivals on their blueline as well as incumbent players Jones could be the name to watch.

The Rangers also signed 26-year-old Connor Mackey, a player who got the most extensive NHL look in his pro career down the stretch with the Arizona Coyotes last season. Arizona head coach André Tourigny played Mackey an average of nearly 16 minutes of ice time per night last season, including nearly two minutes per night on his penalty kill.

While Mackey has far from an extensive NHL track record, he offers a more well-rounded set of tools than Gustafsson and quite a bit more size than Jones, potentially making him the safest choice to play next to Schneider should those two struggle in the preseason.

198-game NHL veteran Ben Harpur is also in the mix for one of the likely two open roster spots on the Rangers blueline. A combination of factors, namely his service to the team last season, his $787.5k contract for the next two campaigns, and his measurables (six-foot-six, 231 pounds) give him a healthy shot to win a roster spot.

As the Rangers struggled with injuries to their defense and a lack of cap space after their acquisition of Patrick Kane last season, Harpur stepped up and weathered some difficult minutes for the team, including a late February contest that saw him register 28:04 time on ice.

If the Rangers want a physical, stay-at-home presence in their opening-night lineup, among this group of depth defensemen Harpur likely best fits that profile. But seeing as Harpur’s toolkit is relatively limited (he’s a big, physical stay-at-home defenseman) and he offers little in the way of puck-moving utility or two-way value, he does seem to be a more likely candidate to hit the waiver wire and begin the season with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack.

In any case, with these players each waiver-eligible, it’s likely that, barring a Jones trade the Rangers will have to expose at least two competent, NHL-relevant defensemen to the league’s 31 other clubs before opening night.

While the many long-term deals on the Rangers’ books dictate that most of the roster Laviolette inherits from former coach Gerard Gallant is set in stone, the leeway Drury’s extensive group of depth signings has afforded his new coach to construct the lower parts of the Rangers’ lineup should make for an intriguing storyline to track in the NHL preseason.