The New York Rangers’ shipping Chris Kreider to the Anaheim Ducks last Thursday was the first significant move in the NHL off-season trade market.
It might not be the last one for the Blueshirts as GM Chris Drury continues to tinker with his roster.
Mollie Walker of the New York Post reported the Kreider trade freed up the left winger’s $6.5 million average annual value from the Rangers’ salary-cap payroll, ensuring Drury the cap flexibility ($15 million) to explore other options to improve his roster this summer.
Walker speculated that the next Ranger to be traded is K’Andre Miller. The 25-year-old defenseman is an RFA with arbitration rights coming off a disappointing 2024-25 performance. If Drury moves Miller, Walker believes he must find a suitable minute-munching blueliner to replace him.
The Hockey News’ Remy Mastey cited Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, claiming “there’s absolute fire” regarding the Miller trade speculation. Seravalli claimed Mike Sullivan, the Rangers’ new coach, is not a fan of the young blueliner’s game.
Meanwhile, Walker’s colleague Larry Brooks believes there’s no guarantee that Alexis Lafreniere will still be a Ranger when the regular season begins in October. He thinks Drury wants to make multiple moves to change the mix on the ice and the chemistry in the dressing room under Sullivan.
Arthur Staple of The Athletic considers Drury in a position where he could go the offer-sheet route to add a talented young player. He speculated that JJ Peterka of the Buffalo Sabres could be a target.
Staple pointed out that the Rangers lack their 2026 second-round pick, which would be necessary as compensation if they signed Peterka to a deal with an average annual value between $7 million and $9.3 million. They’d have to reacquire that pick from Utah beforehand.
As the 2025 NHL draft weekend approaches, Staple indicated that Drury has until June 25 to decide if he’ll send his 2025 first-rounder to the Pittsburgh Penguins. That pick was sent to the Vancouver Canucks as part of the J.T. Miller trade in January, then flipped a day later by the Canucks to the Penguins in the Marcus Pettersson deal.
If Drury relinquishes that pick, he could use his 2026 first-rounder as part of the compensation package should he sign a rival club’s RFA (like Peterka) to a lucrative offer sheet.
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