LAS VEGAS — Should the New York Rangers want to swim in the deep waters of NHL free agency beginning Monday, it appears all of the top right-wing options could be available for them to consider.
The chatter here in Sin City is that Jake Guentzel, Jonathan Marchessault, Patrick Kane and Steven Stamkos will reach UFA status Monday. Sam Reinhart is more of a toss up as his agent continues to try and get a deal done with the Florida Panthers.
Guentzel and the Carolina Hurricanes are also still in talks, though the consensus belief here is that should the natural left wing who’s played some on the right side hits the open market Monday, then the Vancouver Canucks could be willing to offer seven years at $9 million per. The Hurricanes are the only team that could offer Guentzel an eighth season, but likely unwilling to go to the $9 million mark per season.
NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun reported Friday that Stamkos’ agent, Don Meehan, texted him that the Tampa Bay Lightning captain “will be a free agent on July 1.”
Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said Friday, “both sides are interested in getting a deal done.” But the issue, shockingly, is cost and term. It’d be a tough blow if the Lightning lost their two-time Stanley Cup champion who scored 40 goals this past season.
Kane is still speaking with the Detroit Red Wings but appears headed to the open market. And Marchessault and the Vegas Golden Knights want to get a deal done, but it could go down to the wire because of, yes, the dollars and cents (More so the dollars!).
Related: Patrick Kane linked again to Rangers ahead of 2024 NHL free agency
Rangers to decide soon if they’ll chase top-end free agents to play right wing
But even if these All-Stars are all available July 1, can and/or will the Rangers try to land one of them? Guentzel and Reinhart are probably the most expensive options. Because of their age, Kane (36), Stamkos (34) and Marchessault (33) could be more affordable, though certainly not cheap.
Then there’s the next level of free agent right wings like Tyler Toffoli, Anthony Duclair and Vladimir Tarasenko.
Any of these forwards mentioned is a better option that Jack Roslovic, who skated alongside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider after the NHL trade deadline this past season. After meager production, Roslovic, who hits the open market Monday, ended up on the fourth line by the end of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil and Alex Wennberg each getting turns as top-line right wing.
Speaking of Kakko, chatter is picking up that the the 23-year-old is being shopped to help the Rangers move up in the first round of the draft Friday. That’d also free up another $2.4 million for the Rangers.
But if the Rangers want to go deep-sea diving Monday, they’ll need more cap space. Especially looking ahead to next season, when Igor Shesterkin (UFA), Alexis Lafreniere (RFA) and K’Andre Miller (RFA) are due major raises. As it stands, the Rangers have a projected $13.695 million in available cap space.
That’s why the most buzz around the Rangers is about them trading captain Jacob Trouba to rid the cap of his $8 million salary each of the next two seasons. Of course, it’s not that simple since the Blueshirts would also need to replace him in the lineup.
The clock continues to tick, now here in Las Vegas, and then back home in New York on Monday.
