Rangers rumors: New York ‘testing market’ on top-4 defenseman

The New York Rangers are in the midst of a long, long offseason after going from winning the President’s Trophy to missing the playoffs in a span of just a year. That cost Peter Laviolette his job, and Mike Sullivan taking over behind the bench might not be the only change coming in the Big Apple.

The Rangers are reportedly exploring the trade market for defenseman K’Andre Miller, who will be a restricted free agent on July 1, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Wednesday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast.

“It’s not a guarantee, but they are testing the market on Miller. They want to know what it is,” the hockey insider said. “So, we’ll see where it goes, but his name is definitely out there.”

Miller has been a key piece of New York’s blue line since being selected in the first round, No. 22 overall, in the 2018 NHL Draft. The 25-year-old played two seasons with the University of Wisconsin Badgers before breaking into the league full time in 2020-21.

The Saint Paul, Minnesota native’s best season came in 2022-23, when he managed 43 points over 79 games and established himself as an up-and-coming star on the blue line.

He’s had a couple of down years since, managing 30 points in 80 games last year and following it up with 27 points in 74 games in 2024-25. But Miller’s role has continued to grow after the departures of former captain Jacob Trouba, as well as Ryan Lindgren.

Miller is in the final year of a two-year, $7.44 million contract, and will be due for a significant raise. The question is, will general manager Chris Drury give him one?

Rangers are short on cap space

The Rangers do not have a ton of salary cap space to work with this summer; the squad owns between approximately $8 and $11 million. It won’t be easy to get Miller locked up, especially considering New York has a few other RFAs on the roster, including Arthur Kaliyev, Matt Rempe, Will Cuylle, Adam Edstrom, Matthew Robertson and Zac Jones.

A couple young players will also need new contracts after the 2025-26 campaign, most notably Braden Schneider, Brennan Othmann and Brett Berard.

It isn’t currently clear what kind of return the Rangers would be looking for in exchange for Miller, but draft capital is definitely somewhere New York could improve. In this window of contention — the Blueshirts have been to two Eastern Conference Finals in four years — they would be wise to start stocking the cupboards for the future.

The big priority next offseason will be Artemi Panarin, who continues to be the best player on the roster but will be playing out the final season of his massive seven-year, $81.50 million contract in 2025-26.

There will certainly be a couple of changes coming this summer, and Drury probably also wants to see if he can bring a free agent or two to New York this July.

It’ll be interesting to see if Miller is still a part of the team’s plans for the long haul, or whether the front office moves on from the hulking blue liner this summer.