It has been some time since the Rangers created a July 1 splash by jumping into the deep end of the free-agent pool — since 2011, when the Blueshirts came away with Brad Richards (and that actually was July 2, but you get the point).
That recent trend won’t change when the market opens at noon Friday. The combination of a dearth of cap space to invest in a thinned-out field plus an absence of open spots on a roster that remains frighteningly similar to the one that was excused quickly from the first round of the playoffs has created a scenario under which the Rangers are expected to seek low-cost, depth options.