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NHL 2026 NHL Trade Deadline What will the Rangers look like next season? Dennis Schneidler / Imagn Images NEW YORK — The NHL trade deadline came and went with fewer fireworks than anticipated for most teams, the New York Rangers included. Team president Chris Drury executed five trades in total, most notably the Feb. 4 deal that sent Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings, but made only a few minor moves in the days leading up to Friday’s deadline. The Rangers were aggressively shopping veteran Vincent Trocheck, in particular, but ended up holding their primary asset after none of the interested teams met Drury’s lofty demands. Advertisement There’s still major work to be done in the name of the retool Drury promised in his Jan. 16 letter to fans, but everything is on hold until the offseason. In the days since the deadline, I’ve spoken to multiple league sources to get a better feel for why New York didn’t do more last week, as well as what comes next. I’ve used that information, along with my own research, to assess the team’s priorities heading into the summer and craft it into our latest insider column. Now that the in-season trades are done, we can paint a clearer picture of exactly how much salary cap space the Rangers will have this summer, when the ceiling is scheduled to jump from $95. 5 million to $104 million. Spoiler: It’s a lot. Let’s start by looking at all the current roster players who are under contract for next season: Those salaries add up to $76, 529, 167, leaving New York with roughly $27. 47 million to work with. That’s probably a conservative figure because I’m including all 19 players, even though it’s highly unlikely everyone makes it to opening night for the 2026-27 season. I certainly wouldn’t consider Jaroslav Chmelař, Juuso Pärssinen or Urho Vaakanainen, among others, locks to make the team, which could give the Rangers another $3 million-plus in wiggle room. And if Trocheck is traded, they’re looking at between $33 million and $36 million in usable space. Not too long ago, there was a league-wide feeling that Drury would be aggressive with his newfound financial might and go hunting for stars on the free-agent market. But pretty much all of the notable UFAs have re-signed with their current clubs, while the Rangers have sunk to the bottom of the standings and declared their intention to retool. That’s forced them to recalibrate how they’ll use all that cap space. There’s little doubt in my mind — or the minds of anyone else I’ve spoken to — that securing a substantial trade package for Trocheck will remain a priority heading into the summer. The Rangers clearly value the player, but because he doesn’t have the same full trade protection as some of his veteran teammates, they also recognize that he’s one of the few movable assets they can use to infuse the organization with young talent. That’s why this situation will linger for a few months. Advertisement I’ve already laid out some of the risks of not taking the best available deal last week, but New York is viewing it as a calculated gamble. I’ve heard from enough league sources to confidently say Drury wanted an NHL-ready forward with top-six potential as the centerpiece in any deal. We should remember to view his decisions, right or wrong, through the lens of trying to retool, not rebuild. Draft picks will likely be part of any Trocheck trade, but the bigger concern is acquiring players who can impact the lineup sooner than later. The problem is, the teams the Rangers were negotiating with — Minnesota, Carolina and Boston, to name a few — are all in playoff position and were therefore reluctant to part with any active roster players of consequence. That could be less of a barrier during the offseason, when general managers tend to take a big-picture approach and are more apt to consider player-for-player trades. The summer months will provide a rising cap and an extended window to plot multiple moves, plus the ability to fill subsequent holes via free agency. The hope is it will entice new suitors to enter the sweepstakes and drive up the price. (Of note: Trocheck’s no-trade list will drop from 12 teams to 10 on July 1, adding two more possibilities into the mix. ) There’s some logic in that thinking, but there are still reasons to doubt the offers will improve. If you’re one of the GMs who just got turned down, what incentive will you have to pay more for Trocheck this summer while getting one fewer playoff run out of the deal? The prevailing sentiment is Drury is seeking top-line-center prices for a player his counterparts largely view as a second-liner. And with the 850 career games worth of NHL mileage on Trocheck’s tires and his 33rd birthday coming in July, some believe he’ll be best utilized as a 3C before his contract expires in 2029. Drury is under immense pressure to maximize the return after getting the short end on several previous trades, but driving a hard bargain works only if you eventually find someone willing to pay what you’re asking. Getting other teams involved during the offseason feels like a variable the Rangers need to go their way, but I also wonder if they’ll look for opportunities to package Trocheck in a trade for a star-level player who’s looking to leave his current team, much like the Florida Panthers did in 2022 by sending Jonathan Huberdeau, Mac Kenzie Weegar, a first-round pick and a prospect to the Calgary Flames for Matthew Tkachuk. It’s a long shot but still something to keep an eye on if the likes of Auston Matthews or the younger Tkachuk, Brady, shake free. Advertisement Trocheck is the obvious one, but defenseman Braden Schneider is another to monitor closely. The Rangers cooled on the idea of trading him before the deadline for reasons we’ve already touched on — they wanted a young forward who’s ready to contribute and found teams wary of trading any in season — but discussions have taken place and will surely continue over the summer. Drury will look to leverage one of New York’s few positions of strength, right-handed D-men, into scoring help up front. But if that type of deal doesn’t materialize, my sense is he’ll be fine holding the pending RFA into the 2026-27 season. Schneider is only 24, which lessens the urgency felt with a veteran such as Trocheck. The Rangers will continue to explore the market for forward Alexis Lafrenière, as well, but they’re understandably hesitant to sell low on the No. 1 pick from the 2020 draft. He’s had a tough couple of seasons but has been on an upswing lately, including his second career hat trick in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over the Calgary Flames. The 24-year-old has registered 13 points (eight goals and five assists) in his last nine games, offering hope that he could be part of the solution. It’s not as if the organization is bursting with offensively gifted forwards, so the Rangers can ill afford to give one away. (Then again, maybe a strong finish would entice a team to offer something more substantial. ) After Schneider and Lafrenière, it’s hard to figure out where Drury could turn to produce significant trade value. I don’t see him parting with power winger Will Cuylle or top prospect Gabe Perreault, but perhaps defenseman Will Borgen — whose full no-trade clause drops to a 15-team no-trade list July 1 — could enter the conversation, particularly if New York decides to hold Schneider. Other than that, the cupboard is pretty bare. The big question is whether any of the five veterans with full no-movement clauses — forwards J. T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad, defensemen Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov and goalie Igor Shesterkin — expresses a desire to abandon this sinking ship. I don’t see Miller going anywhere after he was named captain, but expect ongoing dialogue with the rest about how they fit into Drury’s plans and the overall retool timeline. The likelihood of any leaving is somewhat slim, but Fox told The Athletic he’s going to take time to “process and digest everything” this summer, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if others take a similar stance. I’m sure the Rangers would love to get involved in talks if Matthews or Brady Tkachuk hits the market, but their December pursuit of Quinn Hughes served as evidence that their weakened pool of assets will make it difficult to put together a competitive offer. It’s also safe to assume that players of that ilk will be looking to go to contenders, not last-place teams in the midst of transition. A big splash may not be in the cards this summer, but Drury should use his cap space to get creative with low-risk deals. That starts with trading for contracts from teams that are tight against the cap. New York is well-positioned to absorb excess salary for draft picks and other assets. Advertisement A few situations come to mind, including Colorado Avalanche forward Ross Colton (one year remaining with a $4 million average annual value), Florida Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues (one year left at $3 million) and New Jersey Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon (one year left at $4 million). The Rangers could easily take on that money, then look to flip them at next year’s trade deadline. If you want to get greedy and aim for younger players who could be part of the long-term plans, a couple of dream scenarios would be snatching away 25-year-old scoring winger Pavel Dorofeyev from the Vegas Golden Knights, who will have a hard time paying the pending RFA the rate he’s earned with 30 goals and counting this season, or grabbing one of the Buffalo Sabres’ crowded mix of young left-handed defensemen, such as Bowen Byram or Owen Power. Of course, those trades would be much more costly in terms of outgoing assets, and the Rangers may not be in a position to strike yet. I could also see Drury handing out a few short-term contracts to free agents who add veteran presence to the lineup and could turn into trade assets with improved play. We’ve seen the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals do it in recent years and get surprising bumps from under-the-radar additions. With the acquisition of four 2026 draft picks via recent trades, the Rangers hold 11 total selections this June, including two first-rounders and four thirds. If they make all of those picks, it would be their highest total since they selected 13 players in 2004. For all of the talk about who might still be traded and how they’ll use all that cap space, the draft stands as New York’s most important task of the summer. After years of bad picks, botched development and shipping away capital for short-term additions, this is the time to replenish a depleted prospect pool. It’s the only way Drury can hope to build a sustainable winner. The Rangers’ first pick will be the subject of the most intrigue. It should land somewhere in the top 10, but their lottery odds are changing by the day. Tuesday’s win moved them from having the league’s third-worst points percentage to fourth. Prospect writer Corey Pronman released his new draft rankings this week, with defenseman Chase Reid and forward Gavin Mc Kenna the only players he deemed worthy of the top tier. Five of the top seven prospects on Pronman’s list were defensemen, with Ivar Stenberg the only forward besides Mc Kenna. The Rangers would love to have one of them, but it will require landing a high enough selection. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Vincent Z. Mercogliano is a Senior Writer for The Athletic covering the New York Rangers. He previously covered the team for The Journal News/lohud. com and the USA TODAY Network. The Hofstra University graduate is also the on-air Rangers analyst for SNY TV.