The early end of the New York Rangers’ season in April, before the Stanley Cup playoffs for a second straight year, has led to plenty of time for offseason speculation. Who could the Rangers trade, and what will they get back? Will they make any impact signings?New York has already started its summer business, drafting Alberts Šmits, acquiring Pavel Dorofeyev, and trading depth wingers Brett Berard and Adam Edström. Now the Rangers will start to show their free agency decisions.The market opens at noon on Wednesday, and team president Chris Drury enters the summer with plenty of cap space (a projected $15.67 million, per PuckPedia), plenty of roster questions, and limited options to spend on. Here’s a past story on potential free agent targets, and we’ll update this free agent tracker throughout the day as the latest news comes in.Who are the top five NHL players to hit free agency?Wrapping up Day 1Is your head still spinning?The New York Rangers got off to a slower start than many NHL teams when free agency opened at noon, but they finished with a flurry.Between their first trade of the day for backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo and their final piece of business (at least for now) of flipping defenseman Will Borgen to the Boston Bruins for two draft picks, they completed seven transactions in a span of less than five hours. The biggest ones came in the final hour or so.In total, seven new players were added — forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand, Cole Beaudoin and Joe Veleno, defensemen Sean Durzi, Marcus Pettersson and Marc Del Gaizo, and Korpisalo — plus three draft picks. Out went three players and two picks, most notably veteran center Vincent Trocheck, who landed in Utah following months of trade speculation. This came days after picking nine new prospects in the 2026 NHL Draft, including No. 5 selection Alberts Šmits, and making their splashiest trade of the offseason to date by acquiring Pavel Dorofeyev and locking up the 25-year-old goal-scorer to a seven-year, $77 million extension.Read more below about the action, and how it helped New York begin cleaning up a self-inflicted roster mess. — MercoglianoTrade grade links Rangers’ swing for Marcus Pettersson from Canucks sends mixed signalsRangers get reasonable return after waiting to deal Vincent TrocheckBorgen shipped up to BostonAfter acquiring Sean Durzi in the Vincent Trocheck trade, New York had a glut of right-shot defensemen. That prompted another move: trading Will Borgen for a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 conditional third-round pick.The 2028 pick becomes a second if the Bruins make it to the Eastern Conference final in either of the next two years, with Borgen playing at least 50 percent of the team’s playoff games that season. — BaughFinally, a Trocheck tradeThe Rangers have traded center Vincent Trocheck to the Utah Mammoth, the teams confirmed Wednesday evening.In return, the Rangers are receiving defenseman Sean Durzi, forward prospect Cole Beaudoin and a 2027 third-round pick. — BaughPuck-moving Pettersson acquiredThe Rangers are working on a deal to acquire left-shot defenseman Marcus Pettersson from the Vancouver Canucks. In return, the Canucks will receive a top-10 protected first-round pick in 2030.The 30-year-old Pettersson, who had 18 points in 82 games last season, is under contract through 2030-31 with a $5.5 million cap hit. The move does not make the Rangers younger, but it gives them a more balanced defensive group. Pettersson will likely slot in as the second-pair left defenseman behind Vladislav Gavrikov. Matthew Robertson and rookie Alberts Šmits would both be in the mix for the third-pair role. — BaughMDG to NYCThe Rangers have signed Marc Del Gaizo to a two-year, two-way contract, the team confirmed.According to a league source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to address parts of the deal that aren’t public, Del Gaizo will carry a cap hit of $875,000 at the NHL level.Del Gaizo is a left-shot defenseman who is from Basking Ridge, N.J., not far from New York City, and has played 55 career NHL games, all with Nashville. He spent last season with AHL Laval, posting 27 points in 63 games. Del Gaizo’s most extensive NHL action came in 2024-25, when he played 46 games and had nine points with the Predators.Del Gaizo will provide the Rangers with organizational depth. He could be an option for AHL Hartford or could fill in in NHL games if needed. — BaughRangers find a RWRangers have checked their right-winger box by signing veteran Oliver Bjorkstrand to a one-year, $4.5 million contract.The 31-year-old is coming off a few down seasons, including only 32 points (12 goals and 20 assists) in 80 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning last season, but he’s had as many as 59 points with the Seattle Kraken in 2023-24 and has posted six seasons of 20 goals or more. — MercoglianoBrodzinski heads southJonny Brodzinski, who spent parts of six seasons with the Rangers, has signed with the Washington Capitals on a one-year, $850,000 contract.Brodzinski played at least 50 games each of the past three seasons with the Rangers and had a career-high 12 goals and 19 points in 51 games in 2024-25. He had six goals and 16 points in 55 games last year for New York. Brodzinski appeared in four playoff games during his Rangers tenure: one in 2022 and three in 2024. — BaughVeleno signs as 4C optionThe Rangers have added depth center Joe Veleno as a free-agent signing. PuckPedia reports his contract will be for one year at $1.2 million.Veleno played 61 games for Montreal last season and had two goals and three assists. He appeared in the Canadiens’ playoff lineup nine times, logging one assist in their run to the Eastern Conference final.Veleno was a solid faceoff taker for the Canadiens (51.6 percent) and a solid forechecker. He’s fast — his max speed was in the 90th percentile last year, per NHL Edge — but did not generate much offense with Montreal. He has a career high of 28 points with Detroit in 2023-24.The 26-year-old will be a fourth-line center option for the Rangers. — BaughKorpisalo comes aboardRangers opened Wednesday’s free-agent frenzy by making a trade, acquiring goalie Joonas Korpisalo from the Boston Bruins in exchange for a 2028 fourth-round draft pick and forward prospect Kalle Vaisanen, the teams announced.Korpisalo is the leading candidate to back up starter Igor Shesterkin now that Jonathan Quick has retired. The 32-year-old has played that role in Boston the last two seasons, posting a 14-9-6 with a .894 save percentage, 3.15 goals against average and -8.94 goals saved above average in 2025-26, according to Natural Stat Trick.The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Finn has two years remaining on a contract that carries a $3 million cap hit and a 10-team no-trade list. (Ottawa is retaining $1 million of Korpisalo’s $4 million average annual value from a previous trade.) — MercoglianoBottom-six prioritiesA couple former Rangers — Mats Zuccarello and Erik Gustafsson — have reportedly agreed to deals with the Los Angeles Kings, per colleague Pierre LeBrun. They’ll join former New York coach Peter Laviolette there, as well as former Rangers star Artemi Panarin. We had previously listed Zuccarello as someone who could make sense for the Rangers to bolster the middle six, but he’s headed west.Adding a bottom-six center remains a priority for the Rangers. Teddy Blueger, Boone Jenner, Scott Laughton and Colton Sissons are all names worth keeping an eye on, though TSN’s Darren Dreger reported the Toronto Maple Leafs and Sissons are talking. — BaughBorgen drawing interestWe know the Rangers have been exploring trade options for Braden Schneider, but he may not be the only right-handed defenseman they’d consider dealing. Will Borgen’s no-trade clause turned into a 15-team list today, opening up the possibility that New York could move the 29-year-old.It makes sense for the Rangers to gauge the market, with the Ottawa Citizen reporting that the Senators are among the interested clubs. Borgen is a 6-foot-3, 199-pounder who’s also a good skater (91st percentile in speed bursts over 22 mph, according to NHL Edge), but his puck skills are limited (15 points in 75 games last season) and his underlying metrics are lackluster (46.83 percent expected goals-for rate, according to Natural Stat Trick). He’s probably best-served in a bottom-pair role, but has spent much of his time in New York playing in the top four.The Rangers shifted toward Schneider in a more prominent role last season and may prefer to keep him if they can get something of value for Borgen, who has four years remaining on his contract for an annual cap hit of $4.1 million. The Anaheim Ducks are another defense-needy team to monitor. — MercoglianoNo on BourqueWe’ve talked about the Rangers focusing on young playmakers, a category into which Dallas Stars RFA center Mavrik Bourque certainly falls. Multiple reports suggest he’s available via trade, but I’m told New York is not among the teams making a push as of Wednesday morning. (Update: Bourque was traded to Nashville.) — MercoglianoLatest on TrocheckSome fans are wondering whether Dorofeyev’s addition could change the thinking on center Vincent Trocheck, but I wouldn’t be so quick to make that assumption. Everything I’ve heard for months suggests the soon-to-be 33-year-old will be traded this summer, with signs still pointing in that direction. His switch to power agent Pat Brisson was viewed around the league as a clear indication that Trocheck is expecting it.Trocheck has discussed the toll the trade rumors have taken on his family, and you’d imagine getting some clarity soon would be helpful in terms of moving and planning school and other activities for his two children. (It sounds like his son, Leo, is hooked on hockey already.) The problem is, the Rangers continue to drive a hard bargain.Drury may have to lower his ask to resolve the drawn-out situation, but I’ve reported he’s aiming for a young player as the centerpiece of any deal and don’t have any firm evidence that’s changed. Another factor is fellow Brisson client Dylan Larkin, who requested a trade from the Detroit Red Wings and may need to set the center market before Drury feels comfortable dealing Trocheck.Much of the chatter over the weekend at the NHL Draft in Buffalo pointed to the Sabres as a team to watch, but it sounds like GM Jarmo Kekäläinen has a lot of irons in the fire. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes are other clubs the Rangers have had conversations with, though I’m sure they’re talking to more than that. — MercoglianoPotential UFA targetsThe Rangers remain focused on trade possibilities, but they’ll also look to fill some holes via free agency. Their primary positions of need are a left-handed defenseman, a top-six right-winger and a bottom-six center.They have ample cap space to use — my projection is slightly higher than PuckPedia’s, at around $16.5 million — but Drury would be wise to avoid any long-term commitments in this watered-down free-agent class. Look for New York to pursue reclamation projects and veterans who are willing to sign for one or two years.That could put the Rangers out of the running for Mario Ferraro, who’s long been a rumored target but is likely aiming for a lengthier pact. Among lefty D, I’d look toward players with connections to coach Mike Sullivan from his Penguins days, such as Matt Grzelcyk and Ryan Shea. (Another option, Jeremy Lauzon, came off the board by re-signing with Vegas on Tuesday night, and it sounds like things have cooled on the Ville Heinola front.)As for the RW, both Andrei Kuzmenko and Patrik Laine feel like worthwhile prove-it bets on likely one-year deals, but other teams are surely thinking the same thing. Eeli Tolvanen and Ilya Mikheyev would also be intriguing if they’re OK with going short-term. And, no, I can’t completely rule out Mats Zuccarello, who will always have a soft spot in New York fans’ hearts, but the buzz is he may be heading out west.Finally, as 4C options, we have our eyes on Teddy Blueger, Noel Acciari and Kevin Stenlund. Blueger would provide a Latvian connection for Friday’s No. 5 draft pick Alberts Šmits, which could be an added benefit. — Mercogliano