Two Rangers RFAs Still Unsigned, and the Blue Line Isn't Finished Yet

The Rangers added three defensemen this offseason — Trudeau via trade from Montreal, Schneider on a one-year deal, Pettersson in from Vancouver — and still the blue line isn't settled. As of July 29, two notable restricted free agents on the back end remain without contract extensions, a loose thread that has now stretched into August.

It's worth noting what the Rangers did get done. Adam Fox logged nearly 24 minutes a night last season across 33 games and is the anchor of whatever this defense becomes. Gavrikov was similarly durable, playing close to the same workload in 49 games. The additions around them suggest Quentin Dolan's front office understands the unit needed bodies. But acquiring players and locking in your own are different tasks, and the RFA situation is a reminder that the roster isn't fully closed.

The longer this sits, the more it complicates camp planning. The coaching staff needs to know what it has. My read is that at least one of these deals gets done in the next week or two — RFA negotiations at this stage rarely drag into September without a resolution — but the fact that both remain open simultaneously is worth watching. The blue line was a problem all season. The offseason addressed some of it. Whether it addressed enough depends partly on answers that still aren't in.