Tye Kartye is on one of the best bargain contracts in the NHL right now, per PuckPedia. His 4-7-11 in 16 games with the Rangers puts him at around $114,000 per point, third lowest in the entire NHL. Naturally as he continues to rack up points, that number will get lower and lower. His $1.25 million contract while playing second line and PP2 minutes with JT Miller has benefited him, and at this point it’s pretty clear the New York Rangers should re-sign Tye Kartye to a long term deal. At just 25 years old, Kartye will be an RFA eligible for arbitration, which at least means he’s at less risk of an offer sheet.
Kartye, picked up off waivers in February this year, has 9 goals and 16 assists for 25 points in 40 games. That is a 51 point pace over an 82 game season and a 52 point pace over the new 84 game season. Though he doesn’t come with the same draft pedigree as other 50 point scorers his age, he is right up there with Will Cuylle in points pace. Kartye has been a diamond in the rough and perhaps the best waiver wire pickup in recent memory, especially for those of us scarred by the days of top line center Erik Christensen.
Kartye is not only putting up the numbers, he’s elevating captain JT Miller’s game back to respectability after a disastrous first two-thirds of his 2025-2026 season. Miller–with 12 points in 16 games–looks revitalized as the 2C and even looked like he willingly accepted shifting to PP2. He’s been vocal about keeping Kartye on his line as well, which hopefully means he will accept perhaps shifting to 3C if/when the Rangers ever acquire a young center with offensive potential.
Aside: I’m sure someone will look at Miller’s splits with/without Kartye and scream inaccuracies. However context matters. Kartye was on the fourth line with significant defensive zone starts prior to moving up to play with Miller. That fourth line was buried with close to 75% OZ/NZ starts. This will skew splits.
Cap hits aside for a moment, the Rangers go as Miller goes. It seems odd that the Rangers should re-sign Tye Kartye long term because of his impact on Miller, but it does make some sense. This is not the same as signing Barclay Goodrow to a six year contract. Kartye is showing he is proving people–including myself–wrong with how he’s playing. He’s earned a new contract, and it’s clear he fits with one of the Rangers’ most important players, fits within the system, and quite frankly, plays the game the right way.
The Rangers should re-sign Tye Kartye long term – it’s within a reasonable contract
The way-too-early contract extension projections from Evolving-Hockey have the most likely contract for Kartye at 3 years and $2.4 million. I think that’s a bit light, given where Kartye plays, his point totals thus far, and a projected $113.5 million cap ceiling. That’s 2% of the cap ceiling, which is very low. If Kartye continues to produce like this, that number will climb.
There shouldn’t be too much debate over whether the Rangers should re-sign Tye Kartye long term. The debate is where his cap hit should sit. The Rangers have $79 million committed to next season with 4 forwards, 5 defensemen, and 2 goalies signed. That leaves $34 million to add 9 forwards, including Kartye and 4 other RFAs, and 2 defensemen, including RFAs Scott Morrow and Matthew Robertson. The biggest contracts will go to Will Cuylle and Gabe Perreault, though Noah Laba will command a decent raise. The others–Matt Rempe, Jaro Chmelar–are likely getting small raises.
Assuming Morrow, Rempe, Robertson, and Chmelar get a total of $5 million between the three of them, that leaves $29 million for Laba, Kartye, Cuylle, Perreault, and 3 additional forwards. Evolving-Hockey has Perreault and Cuylle at $5 million each, and Laba at $2.5 million. That leaves $16.5 million for Kartye and 3 additional forwards.
Adam Sykora, a name forgotten this year due to injury, would be around $1 million as well. It’s safe to assume a kid from Hartford (Liam Greentree, Cole Beaudoin, or both) will push for a spot next season. If it’s both, then the Rangers would have $13.5 million for Kartye and a “big fish” in the center-barren free agent market.
This is a lot of math and projecting to state the Rangers should re-sign Tye Kartye long term because they have the ability to do so. The wild card here is Miller, as the Rangers should not be in the business of re-signing players simply to play with one guy, even if it’s their captain. Kartye is fine without Miller, and Miller is fine without Kartye. They play better with each other, but if the sole reason that the Rangers should re-sign Tye Kartye is to keep Miller happy, then it won’t be a good decision. Luckily, Kartye looks like he can play other roles without Miller, eliminating that risk.
The New York Rangers also have the ability to lock up Perreault and Cuylle to long-term deals, something that should not be overlooked or even put in jeopardy because the Rangers should re-sign Tye Kartye long term as well. The priority is Perreault and Cuylle as 1A/1B, then Kartye.
This is a rare opportunity for Chris Drury to lock up at least three key pieces to discount deals, adding onto Alexis Lafreniere’s very team friendly contract. There’s a strong argument that even Miller and Mika Zibanejad are on friendly deals. This is significant as the Rangers try to entice Connor McDavid (again) and try to get Adam Fox to stay for his next, and presumably massive, contract in 2029.
The Rangers should re-sign Tye Kartye long term and are actually in a position to do so without sacrificing players off the roster. As the retool on the fly continues, getting bargains on long term deals is a priority for the Blueshirts. This is how good teams manage their cap to maintain Cup contender status for years. It’s time for Drury to do the same.
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