The New York Rangers are a much different franchise than they were only a few years ago. GM Glen Sather has finally caught up to the new NHL CBA era and now has a team core that is just as good as any other and so much more affordable, which is the most important thing. Quite possibly the most surprising stat that the Sherpa has uncovered is that the Rangers core bunch of players signed on for next season has the youngest average age amongst teams that have already been featured. Even younger than Columbus, Phoenix and Chicago.The Rangers managed to sign their franchise player, Henrik Lundqvist, to a long-term deal during the season, which was one of their high priorities for the future. Lundqvist will be earning some big money over the next six seasons and will be a $6.875 million cap hit per year. Not bad for the 8th best pool player in the league next season.
On defense, the future is already now for the Rangers and they will have room to make their top six one of the best groups in the league. Their best defenseman in the year, Michal Rozsival, will have to be re-signed before he gets to be an unrestricted free agent, unless the Rangers figure they can upgrade their number one guy with some of their extra cap space. Both Marek Malik and Paul Mara are going to be unrestricted free agents, but are not expected back, since they are high paid defenders that were regular healthy scratches in the season.
Up front, the new additions from last summer, Scott Gomez and Chris Drury, highlight next season's line-up and the Rangers already have a couple young wingers ready to play with the two veteran centres. Both Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan have been playing on big lines already for the team and they will likely be back to playing in those roles again next season, unless the shopping trip for Sather in July brings lots of new wingers. The Rangers also have a good portion of their grit signed on with Blair Betts, Ryan Hollweg and Colton Orr already signed on for next season. Those three aren't big scorers, but if you have penalty minutes in your pool, then they should be considered.
| Forwards | Defense | Goaltenders |
| Scott Gomez | Dan Girardi | Henrik Lundqvist |
| Chris Drury | Fedor Tyutin | |
| Brandon Dubinsky | Christian Backman | |
| Petr Prucha | Marc Staal | |
| Ryan Callahan | ||
| Blair Betts | ||
| Ryan Hollweg | ||
| Colton Orr |
In total, the Rangers have 13 guys signed on for next season at an approximate rate of $33.3 million. That could leave them with $21 million in cap space to fill their last 10 spots. A lot of that space comes from the free agency of Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, Martin Straka, Marek Malik, Paul Mara, Michal Rozsival and Sean Avery.
The Rangers will have to look at a couple restricted free agents this summer. Nigel Dawes and Fredrik Sjostrom are both going to be negotiating new deals after getting some really good ice-time with the Rangers. Sjostrom was acquired from the Coyotes during the season and managed to crack the line-up on a full-time basis after not being one of Wayne Gretzky's favourites.
There could also be a Russian flavour added to the Rangers line-up next season with the possibility of the addition of Artem Anisimov from their minor-league team and/or Alexei Cherepanov, who they still have to sign from the Russian Elite League.
This year at the Draft, there probably won't be much for dealings of actual assets, unless they forsee some troubles with signing players, so the Rangers will likely focus on making the most out of their 20th overall pick. Look for the Rangers to pick the best available player at the time, which may end up being the likes of Evgeny Grachev (F), Colby Robak (D) or John Carlson (D), according to the ISS.
It won't be long before the Rangers will be that team that you love to hate... unless you already hate them.
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