far too little for zadorov but everything looks fine.

OTT declines

Not trading TK to rival team for some low-balling package. Perrault/Othmann + 1st is the start.

Chytil like 1 more concussion away from retiring.

I think Drury will be hard pressed to find anyone willing to pay for Trouba. It definitely won't be CHI, though.

That's a no from Ottawa.

I think Richardson would absolutely LOVE Trouba on this roster but I 100% agree that it costs NYR to unload him because of his contract.

I want you to take this team you've created and move it forward to the following season, and let me know how you do resigning Shesty, LAF, Konecny, Miller, Bourque, Cuylle and Rempe.

I've been making the same point all week. Spot on!

I really want Marchessault, I feel like the way he plays would be perfect for the Rangers and would really help Mika's line. I dont even expect him to be an overly expensive sign, maybe like 6.5m x 4y... however, even just that 1 move, even if we get rid of Trouba, Kakko and Chytil, makes it outrageously difficult to resign Shesty, LAF, Miller, Cuylle, Rempe and Jones.

Not so sure about that. Richardson hates stupid penalties. So he would have to stop with the chicken wings for sure. haha. Another big physical right shot D would be nice to protect the kids and help them along, and he does seem like a good dude off the ice, or he at least likes to portray himself that way, whether that is all for show or not is tbd. It would be an interesting dynamic and I'm sure they can find value in having him on the roster. But, yeah, it's going to cost them more than a 3rd.

Emphasis on START lol meaning even that is probably not enough to move him to Rangers

I actually did think about that while trying to idealize things here.

The way I see it, the rise in cap next two years helps a lot. They should still pursue freeing up more cap w/ Goodrow and Trouba. I think they're fairly tradeable.

Next I'd use the Rangers young depth (Othmann, Sykora, Berard, picks, etc) and players and players right's that aren't good fits for what the Rangers need anymore (Chytil, Lindgren, etc) to fill specific holes.

(Trading from the young depth is tough, but at least one young addition like Bourque helps mitigate that. It's a very risky approach but I think this team needs a facelift to make it over the conference final hump. The core is there. Drury should use his expendable assets to acquire specific players to help maximize the window which I think is solidly the next two seasons. (End of Panarin's contract; depth chart will start to change dramatically after that)).

Those needs are pretty obvious. We're having fun here, but tried to make this realistic while also idealizing each move.

Cap rises to 88M this year, should be about 92-94 next year. Call it an extra 5M in space. Rangers will free up an additional 12.1M with Konecny, Quick, Chychrun and Vesey expiring.

Factor in all of the impending FA salaries you want to resign to 0, brings you to about 27.2 M in space (Laf+Cuylle+Rempe+Edstrom+Bourque+Igor+Miller)

Again, still just having fun with this....here's how ~ 27.2M in cap space can work out for the 2025-2026 season

Kreider - Zibanejad - Perreault (950K)
Panarin - Trocheck - Lafreniere (9M)
Cuylle (2.5M) - Bourque (3M) - Kakko
Edstrom (1.75M) - Roobroeck (800K) - Rempe (2M)

Miller (5.5M) - Fox
Kylington - Zadorov
Mackey (775K) - Schneider

27.2 M in space > 26.275 M in salary

See my response to the thread. Sorry, Don't think I can show the roster math on multiple seasons at a time or respond to multiple people at once? Might have missed it w/ the multi quote.

To respond to your point here though...I'd rather not sign a guy like Marchessault to a multi-year deal because we have Perreault on the way for that exact position as my response above factors in. You sign Marchessault for 4-6 years and you're even tighter on cap. and maneuverability.

At RW1 especially...it would be very wise for the Rangers to acquire a 1-year guy who can contribute immensely to a cup run, but can then be allowed to walk so the Rangers can balance the roster with Perreault's arrival, and the $$$ needed to give other core players raises. I'm sure there are other fits besides Konecny, but that's the idea there.

Wheres the 11m Igor will likely get?

How many more seasons of LW1 does Kreider have? I think there comes a point where LAF goes to LW1, not blocking anything for Perrault.

We are mostly on the same page. I'm working on a proposal with minimal changes to the current roster that promotes bring in the youngsters as the Ranger slowly transition from the current core over the next few years. The effort takes on the same spirit as your attempt. What's wrong with getting creative after all!