New York Rangers Likely to Cut Ties With Former Top Prospect This Offseason

The New York Rangers are likely to cut ties with a former 1st round draft pick that they picked up from the Los Angeles Kings this year via the waiver wire.

In one of the more startling falls from grace, the New York Ranger failed to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs only a season after winning the President's Trophy and advancing to the Eastern Conference Final.

Head coach Peter Laviolette already paid for that failure with his job, and GM Chris Drury has replaced him with former Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan.

But while there will be additional roster changes made during the summer, one player that the Rangers picked up on the waiver wire this season from the Los Angeles Kings isn't likely to be back in the fold.

Per Jennifer Streeter of Blue Line Station, the Rangers would be better off letting Kaliyev enter the market as a UFA this summer rather than bringing him back owing to his poor cross numbers and overall underwhelming statistics.

Neither his shots or push for scoring chances were spectacular. In his 14 games he had a 47.48 expected goals for percentage, and a 48.68 Corsi for percentage according to Evolving-Hockey, and that suggests more often than not he was chasing play as opposed to driving it.

If General Manager and President Chris Drury decides to let Kaliyev enter unrestricted free agency, the loss of a player who didn't do much more than skate for 14 games wouldn't impact the Blueshirts much at all moving forward.

Kaliyev was taken with the 33rd pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft by the Los Angeles Kings; he played the 1st several years of his career with the organization before being waived this past January and subsequently scooped up by the Rangers.

He had 4 points (3G, 1A) in 14 games with the Rangers after being claimed.