Danny Wild-Imagn ImagesJonny Brodzinski and Conor Sheary are the New York Rangers’ only unrestricted free agents going into the 2026 offseason.
Sheary, who signed a PTO with the Rangers, leading to a one-year contract before the start of the 2025-26 season, did not speak with the media on breakup day, so it’s unclear where his head is regarding a possible reunion with the Rangers.
During Brodzinski’s exit interview, he was asked whether or not he had conversations with Rangers’ management about a new contract extension.
Brodzinski admitted that there hadn't been any conversations up to the point of breakup day.
“Nothing as of yet,” Brodzinski said on whether there have been any conversations with the Rangers about a contract extension. “I’ll leave that to my agent. Just trying to enjoy this little bit here with my kids, kind of get summer going.”
While leaving his future up in the air, Brodzinski expressed his desire to remain in New York and his love of playing for the Rangers.
“Yeah,” Brodzinski said about if he would like to be back with the Rangers. “I love this organization, I love my teammates here. The coaches have been great. It’s obviously somewhere that I would love to play. As far as my time here, I’ve really, really enjoyed it, loved playing at MSG. It’s one of the best rinks in the entire world. The fans have been great, so nothing but good things.”
Since signing with the Rangers in 2020, Brodzinski has made a tremendous impact on the organization at both the American Hockey League and NHL levels.
Playing in 114 games for the Hartford Wolf Pack over four seasons, Brodzinski took on a leadership role, becoming an assistant captain during the 2020-22 campaign before being elevated to the role of team captain the following season.
The 32-year-old forward’s role in helping with the development of the organization's prospects on top of his reliable presence for the Rangers in a bottom-six role should not be overlooked.
However, both Mike Sullivan and Chris Drury’s comments detailing the team’s need to improve their bottom-six forward unit, insinuates that Brodzinski's future with the team could be in jeopardy.
“I think there might be some opportunities to improve our bottom six at the forward position,” Sullivan said during his exit interview.
The emergence of younger players who slotted into the Rangers’ bottom-six forward group late in the season, including Tye Kartye, Adam Sýkora, and Jaroslav Chmelař, also don’t bode well for the Rangers to re-sign Brodzinski.
Given all of this context, it appears as if Brodzinski’s future with the Blueshirts is on shaky ground.