The NY Rangers 2023 free agent was surprisingly active — and infuriating, thanks Elon — yesterday. Finally, the Rangers delivered a game Whopping 8 signings yesterday, and not a single player was signed for more than $825,000 per year. Due to limited cap space, the Bluechers could only sign deep players, which led to many veteran signings and deep signings in the AHL. Even with limited space, Chris Drury did a good, if not amazing, job yesterday.
The 2023 Rangers free agency is divided into three groups: Projected NHL Regulars, Projected NHL Depth, and AHL Depth.
- NHL regulars
- NHL depth
- AHL depth
Wheeler is expected to be a quarterback, with the potential to be a 40- to 60-point player for just $800,000. Gustafsson and Bonino will likely be in the third pair/fourth line rotation, respectively. Naturally quick he will be the backup goalkeeper.
I can see Riley Nash being listed as AHL depth as a point of contention, but he didn’t play in the NHL at all last year and spent the entire year in the AHL. Based on this, he is the depth of the AHL. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him race Pitlick as 13/14F, but we’ll see how the camp unfolds.
We’ll take a closer look at the Rangers 2023 free agency class later this week. For now, this was a low stakes, medium reward day for Drury.