# 2002–03 New York Rangers season

The 2002–03 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 77th season. In the regular season, the Rangers posted a 32–36–10–4 record, finishing fourth in the Atlantic Division. The Rangers' ninth-place finish in the Eastern Conference left them out of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the sixth straight season.
The Rangers entered the season under the supervision of former Colorado Avalanche assistant coach and New York Islanders star Bryan Trottier in his first head coaching role. With the team on the outside of the playoff picture, he was fired after 54 games and replaced with general manager Glen Sather.
The Rangers saw a major milestone reached as goaltender Mike Richter won his 300th game with the team. Shortly thereafter, he suffered a concussion against the Edmonton Oilers when Todd Marchant accidentally struck his head with his knee. Combined with a skull fracture Richter suffered toward the end of the previous season when hit in the face with a slap shot, it was the second such injury he suffered in the previous eight months and caused him to miss the rest of the season. Richter retired before the start of the next season.

## Regular season
### Final standings

Atlantic Division :
| No. | CR | | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | 2 | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 46 | 20 | 10 | 6 | 216 | 166 | 108 |
| 2 | 4 | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 45 | 20 | 13 | 4 | 211 | 166 | 107 |
| 3 | 8 | New York Islanders | 82 | 35 | 34 | 11 | 2 | 224 | 231 | 83 |
| 4 | 9 | New York Rangers | 82 | 32 | 36 | 10 | 4 | 210 | 231 | 78 |
| 5 | 14 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 27 | 44 | 6 | 5 | 189 | 255 | 65 |
Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.
Eastern Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | P- Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 52 | 21 | 8 | 1 | 263 | 182 | 113 |
| 2 | Y- New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 46 | 20 | 10 | 6 | 216 | 166 | 108 |
| 3 | Y- Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 36 | 25 | 16 | 5 | 219 | 210 | 93 |
| 4 | X- Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 45 | 20 | 13 | 4 | 211 | 166 | 107 |
| 5 | X- Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 44 | 28 | 7 | 3 | 236 | 208 | 98 |
| 6 | X- Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 39 | 29 | 8 | 6 | 224 | 220 | 92 |
| 7 | X- Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 36 | 31 | 11 | 4 | 245 | 237 | 87 |
| 8 | X- New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 35 | 34 | 11 | 2 | 224 | 231 | 83 |
| 8.5 |||||||||||
| 9 | New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 32 | 36 | 10 | 4 | 210 | 231 | 78 |
| 10 | Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 30 | 35 | 8 | 9 | 206 | 234 | 77 |
| 11 | Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 31 | 39 | 7 | 5 | 226 | 284 | 74 |
| 12 | Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 27 | 37 | 10 | 8 | 190 | 219 | 72 |
| 13 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 24 | 36 | 13 | 9 | 176 | 237 | 70 |
| 14 | Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 27 | 44 | 6 | 5 | 189 | 255 | 65 |
| 15 | Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 22 | 43 | 11 | 6 | 171 | 240 | 61 |
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast
P – Clinched Presidents Trophy; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

## Schedule and results

2002–03 regular season :
October: 4–6–2–0 (home: 2–4–1–0; road: 2–2–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
1October 9@ Carolina Hurricanes4–11–0–0–0Recap
2October 11Montreal Canadiens4–11–1–0–0Recap
3October 12@ Pittsburgh Penguins6–01–2–0–0Recap
4October 15Toronto Maple Leafs5–42–2–0–0Recap
5October 17@ Buffalo Sabres4–4 OT2–2–1–0Recap
6October 19Nashville Predators2–2 OT2–2–2–0Recap
7October 21Tampa Bay Lightning4–22–3–2–0Recap
8October 23Washington Capitals2–12–4–2–0Recap
9October 25Los Angeles Kings6–22–5–2–0Recap
10October 26@ Toronto Maple Leafs4–33–5–2–0Recap
11October 28Phoenix Coyotes3–2 OT4–5–2–0Recap
12October 30@ Tampa Bay Lightning3–04–6–2–0Recap :
November: 6–6–2–0 (home: 4–2–0–0; road: 2–4–2–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
13November 2@ Boston Bruins3–24–7–2–0Recap
14November 3St. Louis Blues3–24–8–2–0Recap
15November 5Edmonton Oilers5–25–8–2–0Recap
16November 7Calgary Flames1–0 OT6–8–2–0Recap
17November 9@ Columbus Blue Jackets6–36–9–2–0Recap
18November 11@ San Jose Sharks5–47–9–2–0Recap
19November 14@ Calgary Flames2–18–9–2–0Recap
20November 16@ Vancouver Canucks3–18–10–2-0Recap
21November 19Mighty Ducks of Anaheim3–2 OT9–10–2–0Recap
22November 21@ New Jersey Devils4–4 OT9–10–3–0Recap
23November 23New York Islanders3–19–11–3–0Recap
24November 25Carolina Hurricanes3–110–11–3–0Recap
25November 28@ Atlanta Thrashers7–410–12–3–0Recap
26November 29@ Dallas Stars3–3 OT10–12–4–0Recap :
December: 5–8–1–1 (home: 3–5–1–0; road: 2–3–0–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
27December 1Tampa Bay Lightning4–311–12–4–0Recap
28December 3Columbus Blue Jackets5–312–12–4–0Recap
29December 5@ Philadelphia Flyers3–2 OT12–12–4–1Recap
30December 6Buffalo Sabres4–112–13–4–1Recap
31December 8Boston Bruins4–112–14–4–1Recap
32December 11Chicago Blackhawks4–312–15–4–1Recap
33December 14@ Toronto Maple Leafs4–112–16–4–1Recap
34December 16San Jose Sharks2–1 OT13–16–4–1Recap
35December 19Montreal Canadiens3–113–17–4–1Recap
36December 21@ Detroit Red Wings3–213–18–4–1Recap
37December 23New Jersey Devils2–2 OT13–18–5–1Recap
38December 26Pittsburgh Penguins6–113–19–5–1Recap
39December 28@ Florida Panthers2–1 OT14–19–5–1Recap
40December 29@ Tampa Bay Lightning5–314–20–5–1Recap
41December 31@ Carolina Hurricanes2–015–20–5–1Recap :
January: 6–6–1–1 (home: 2–3–1–1; road: 4–3–0–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
42January 4Washington Capitals2–2 OT15–20–6–1Recap
43January 6Ottawa Senators5–215–21–6–1Recap
44January 8Carolina Hurricanes5–116–21–6–1Recap
45January 9@ Montreal Canadiens3–216–22–6–1Recap
46January 11@ Pittsburgh Penguins3–117–22–6–1Recap
47January 13Toronto Maple Leafs5–118–22–6–1Recap
48January 15@ Washington Capitals2–1 OT19–22–6–1Recap
49January 19Philadelphia Flyers4–219–23–6–1Recap
50January 21@ New York Islanders5–020–23–6–1Recap
51January 23@ Nashville Predators4–221–23–6–1Recap
52January 25Atlanta Thrashers4–121–24–6–1Recap
53January 26@ Washington Capitals7–221–25–6–1Recap
54January 28@ Atlanta Thrashers5–221–26–6–1Recap
55January 30Colorado Avalanche4–3 OT21–26–6–2Recap :
February: 5–5–2–0 (home: 2–1–0–0; road: 3–4–2–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
56February 5Ottawa Senators5–321–27–6–2Recap
57February 6@ St. Louis Blues4–4 OT21–27–7–2Recap
58February 8@ Philadelphia Flyers2–121–28–7–2Recap
59February 12@ Florida Panthers3–122–28–7–2Recap
60February 14Pittsburgh Penguins1–023–28–7–2Recap
61February 15@ Buffalo Sabres5–423–29–7–2Recap
62February 17@ Ottawa Senators3–223–30–7–2Recap
63February 19@ Minnesota Wild4–224–30–7–2Recap
64February 21@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim6–225–30–7–2Recap
65February 23@ Colorado Avalanche4–125–31–7–2Recap
66February 25@ New Jersey Devils3–3 OT25–31–8–2Recap
67February 27Boston Bruins4–126–31–8–2Recap :
March: 6–3–1–2 (home: 4–2–1–1; road: 2–1–0–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
68March 1Florida Panthers5–227–31–8–2Recap
69March 3New York Islanders1–1 OT27–31–9–2Recap
70March 7Philadelphia Flyers5–128–31–9–2Recap
71March 10Florida Panthers2–128–32–9–2Recap
72March 13@ Ottawa Senators3–2 OT28–32–9–3Recap
73March 15@ New Jersey Devils3–128–33–9–3Recap
74March 17New York Islanders1–029–33–9–3Recap
75March 19Buffalo Sabres3–030–33–9–3Recap
76March 22@ Philadelphia Flyers2–131–33–9–3Recap
77March 26Pittsburgh Penguins3–131–34–9–3Recap
78March 29@ Boston Bruins3–132–34–9–3Recap
79March 31Atlanta Thrashers4–3 OT32–34–9–4Recap :
April: 0–2–1–0 (home: 0–1–0–0; road: 0–1–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
80April 1@ New York Islanders2–2 OT32–34–10–4Recap
81April 4New Jersey Devils2–132–35–10–4Recap
82April 5@ Montreal Canadiens5–432–36–10–4Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point)
  Overtime loss (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Scoring

* Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
* † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Rangers only.
* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Rangers only.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 93 | Petr Nedved | C | 78 | 27 | 31 | 58 | −4 | 64 |
| 88 | Eric Lindros | C | 81 | 19 | 34 | 53 | 5 | 141 |
| 3 | Tom Poti | D | 80 | 11 | 37 | 48 | −6 | 60 |
| 11 | Mark Messier | C | 78 | 18 | 22 | 40 | −2 | 30 |
| 36 | Matthew Barnaby | LW | 79 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 9 | 142 |
| 16 | Bobby Holik | C | 64 | 16 | 19 | 35 | −1 | 50 |
| 9 | Pavel Bure | RW | 39 | 19 | 11 | 30 | 4 | 16 |
| 2 | Brian Leetch | D | 51 | 12 | 18 | 30 | −3 | 20 |
| 20 | Radek Dvorak‡ | RW | 63 | 6 | 21 | 27 | −3 | 16 |
| 37 | Mikael Samuelsson‡ | RW | 58 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 0 | 32 |
| 26 | Jamie Lundmark | C | 55 | 8 | 11 | 19 | −3 | 16 |
| 23 | Vladimir Malakhov | D | 71 | 3 | 14 | 17 | −7 | 52 |
| 10 | Sandy McCarthy | RW | 82 | 6 | 9 | 15 | −4 | 81 |
| 38 | Ronald Petrovicky | LW | 66 | 5 | 9 | 14 | −12 | 77 |
| 6 | Darius Kasparaitis | D | 80 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 5 | 85 |
| 27 | Alexei Kovalev† | RW | 24 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 20 |
| 17 | Rem Murray‡ | LW | 32 | 6 | 6 | 12 | −3 | 4 |
| 39 | Joel Bouchard‡ | D | 27 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 14 |
| 29 | Boris Mironov† | D | 36 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 34 |
| 5 | Dale Purinton | D | 58 | 3 | 9 | 12 | −2 | 161 |
| 27 | Rico Fata‡ | LW | 36 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −1 | 6 |
| 22 | Anson Carter† | RW | 11 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| 39 | Dan LaCouture† | LW | 24 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| 18 | Cory Cross†‡ | D | 26 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 16 |
| 8 | Ted Donato | C | 49 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −1 | 6 |
| 42 | John Tripp | RW | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 33 | Dave Karpa | D | 19 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −1 | 14 |
| 24 | Sylvain Lefebvre | D | 35 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −7 | 10 |
| 21 | Richard Lintner‡ | D | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −5 | 0 |
| 30 | Mike Dunham† | G | 43 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 0 |
| 32 | Gordie Dwyer†‡ | LW | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 50 |
| 40 | Johan Holmqvist‡ | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 22 | Mike Wilson† | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 28 | Roman Lyashenko | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| 18 | Ales Pisa† | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | Josh Green†‡ | LW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| 12 | Dixon Ward | LW | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 2 |
| 29 | Krzysztof Oliwa‡ | LW | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 51 |
| 44 | Billy Tibbetts† | C | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 12 |
| 35 | Mike Richter | G | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 31 | Dan Blackburn | G | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 2 |

### Goaltending

* † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Rangers only.
* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Rangers only.
| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 30 | Mike Dunham† | 43 | 19 | 17 | 5 | 1229 | 94 | 2.29 | .924 | 5 | 2467 |
| 31 | Dan Blackburn | 32 | 8 | 16 | 4 | 842 | 93 | 3.17 | .890 | 1 | 1762 |
| 35 | Mike Richter | 13 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 329 | 34 | 2.94 | .897 | 0 | 694 |
| 40 | Johan Holmqvist‡ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 3.08 | .889 | 0 | 39 |
Sources:

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Brian Leetch |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Tom Poti |
| Team | Ceil Saidel Memorial Award | Brian Leetch |
| Team | Frank Boucher Trophy | Mike Dunham |
| Team | Good Guy Award | Bobby Holik |
| Team | Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award | Jamie Lundmark |
| Team | Players' Player Award | Brian Leetch |
| Team | Rangers MVP | Brian Leetch |
| Team | Rookie of the Year | Jamie Lundmark |
| Team | Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award | Matthew Barnaby |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date | Ref |
| First game | Jamie Lundmark | October 9, 2002 | |
| First game | John Tripp | January 8, 2003 | |

## Transactions

The Rangers were involved in the following transactions from June 14, 2002, the day after the deciding game of the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 9, 2003, the day of the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 22, 2002 (2002-06-22) | To New York Rangers 3rd-round pick in 20024th-round pick in 2002 | To Ottawa Senators 3rd-round pick in 2002 |
| June 23, 2002 (2002-06-23) | To New York Rangers 6th-round pick in 2002 | To San Jose Sharks 6th-round pick in 2003Future considerations |
| June 23, 2002 (2002-06-23) | To New York Rangers Krzysztof Oliwa | To Pittsburgh Penguins Future considerations |
| June 30, 2002 (2002-06-30) | To New York Rangers 4th-round pick in 2003 | To Edmonton Oilers Rights to Mike Richter |
| July 16, 2002 (2002-07-16) | To New York Rangers Conditional 6th-round pick in 2003 | To Los Angeles Kings Derek Armstrong |
| October 10, 2002 (2002-10-10) | To New York Rangers Gordie Dwyer | To Tampa Bay Lightning Boyd Kane |
| December 12, 2002 (2002-12-12) | To New York Rangers Josh Green | To Edmonton Oilers Conditional draft pick in 2004 |
| December 12, 2002 (2002-12-12) | To New York Rangers Mike Dunham | To Nashville Predators Tomas KloucekRem MurrayRights to Marek Zidlicky |
| January 6, 2003 (2003-01-06) | To New York Rangers 9th-round pick in 2004 | To Boston Bruins Krzysztof Oliwa |
| January 8, 2003 (2003-01-08) | To New York Rangers Boris Mironov | To Chicago Blackhawks 4th-round pick in 2004 |
| January 17, 2003 (2003-01-17) | To New York Rangers Jay Henderson | To Boston Bruins Boston's 9th-round pick in 2004 |
| January 22, 2003 (2003-01-22) | To New York Rangers 6th-round pick in 2003 or 2004 | To Calgary Flames Mike Mottau |
| February 10, 2003 (2003-02-10) | To New York Rangers Alexei KovalevDan LaCoutureJanne LaukkanenMike Wilson | To Pittsburgh Penguins Joel BouchardRico FataRichard LintnerMikael SamuelssonCash ($3.9 million) |
| February 20, 2003 (2003-02-20) | To New York Rangers Cory Larose | To Minnesota Wild Jay Henderson |
| March 11, 2003 (2003-03-11) | To New York Rangers Lawrence Nycholat | To Minnesota Wild Johan Holmqvist |
| March 11, 2003 (2003-03-11) | To New York Rangers Anson CarterAles Pisa | To Edmonton Oilers Cory CrossRadek Dvorak |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 1, 2002 (2002-07-01) | Bobby Holik | New Jersey Devils | 5-year | Free agency |
| July 2, 2002 (2002-07-02) | Darius Kasparaitis | Colorado Avalanche | 4-year | Free agency |
| July 4, 2002 (2002-07-04) | Mike Richter | Edmonton Oilers | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 8, 2002 (2002-07-08) | Ted Donato | Los Angeles Kings | | Free agency |
| July 11, 2002 (2002-07-11) | Jeff State | Merrimack College (HE) | | Free agency |
| July 11, 2002 (2002-07-11) | Craig Weller | Kootenay Ice (WHL) | | Free agency |
| July 18, 2002 (2002-07-18) | Vladimir Chebaturkin | Chicago Blackhawks | | Free agency |
| August 7, 2002 (2002-08-07) | Joel Bouchard | New Jersey Devils | | Free agency |
| October 1, 2002 (2002-10-01) | Dixon Ward | SCL Tigers (NLA) | | Free agency |
| October 4, 2002 (2002-10-04) | Ronald Petrovicky | Calgary Flames | | Waiver draft |
| December 16, 2002 (2002-12-16) | Billy Tibbetts | Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) | | Free agency |
| December 17, 2002 (2002-12-17) | Cory Cross | Toronto Maple Leafs | | Free agency |
| April 4, 2003 (2003-04-04) | Lucas Lawson | University of Maine (HE) | | Free agency |
| May 22, 2003 (2003-05-22) | Steve MacIntyre | Muskegon Fury (UHL) | | Free agency |
| May 22, 2003 (2003-05-22) | Jed Ortmeyer | University of Michigan (CCHA) | | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| June 30, 2002 (2002-06-30) | Kyle Freadrich | | Retirement (UFA) |
| July 10, 2002 (2002-07-10) | Terry Virtue | Worcester IceCats (AHL) | Free agency (VI) |
| July 12, 2002 (2002-07-12) | Steve McKenna | Pittsburgh Penguins | Free agency (UFA) |
| July 16, 2002 (2002-07-16) | Michal Grosek | Boston Bruins | Free agency (UFA) |
| July 23, 2002 (2002-07-23) | Jason Dawe | St. Louis Blues | Free agency (UFA) |
| August 1, 2002 (2002-08-01) | Brad Smyth | Ottawa Senators | Free agency (UFA) |
| August 13, 2002 (2002-08-13) | Bryan Berard | Boston Bruins | Free agency (UFA) |
| August 19, 2002 (2002-08-19) | Christian Gosselin | Bracknell Bees (BISL) | Free agency (VI) |
| September 6, 2002 (2002-09-06) | Andreas Johansson | Nashville Predators | Free agency (UFA) |
| October 9, 2002 (2002-10-09) | Chris St. Croix | Manitoba Moose (AHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| October 25, 2002 (2002-10-25) | Martin Rucinsky | St. Louis Blues | Free agency (III) |
| November 16, 2002 (2002-11-16) | Wes Jarvis | Charlotte Checkers (ECHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| December 18, 2002 (2002-12-18) | Sean Gagnon | San Antonio Rampage (AHL) | Free agency (VI) |
| January 15, 2003 (2003-01-15) | Josh Green | Washington Capitals | Waivers |
| February 21, 2003 (2003-02-21) | Gordie Dwyer | Montreal Canadiens | Waivers |
| March 11, 2003 (2003-03-11) | Janne Laukkanen | Tampa Bay Lightning | Waivers |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| July 9, 2002 (2002-07-09) | Nils Ekman | | Re-signing |
| July 15, 2002 (2002-07-15) | Ken Gernander | | Re-signing |
| July 17, 2002 (2002-07-17) | Krzysztof Oliwa | | Re-signing |
| July 19, 2002 (2002-07-19) | Dale Purinton | | Re-signing |
| July 30, 2002 (2002-07-30) | Richard Lintner | | Re-signing |
| August 1, 2002 (2002-08-01) | Mikael Samuelsson | 2-year | Re-signing |
| August 12, 2002 (2002-08-12) | Johan Holmqvist | | Re-signing |
| August 13, 2002 (2002-08-13) | Brandon Snee | | Entry-level |
| August 14, 2002 (2002-08-14) | Roman Lyashenko | | Re-signing |
| August 14, 2002 (2002-08-14) | Tom Poti | | Re-signing |
| September 11, 2002 (2002-09-11) | Mark Messier | | Re-signing |
| September 12, 2002 (2002-09-12) | Radek Dvorak | | Re-signing |
| September 12, 2002 (2002-09-12) | Scott Meyer | | Re-signing |
| September 17, 2002 (2002-09-17) | Patrick Aufiero | | Entry-level |
| September 18, 2002 (2002-09-18) | Mike Mottau | | Re-signing |
| October 7, 2002 (2002-10-07) | Garth Murray | | Entry-level |
| December 19, 2002 (2002-12-19) | Bryce Lampman | | Entry-level |
| March 13, 2003 (2003-03-13) | Ken Gernander | 1-year | Option exercised |

## Draft picks

New York's picks at the 2002 NHL entry draft in Toronto, Ontario, at the Air Canada Centre.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 2 | 33 | Lee Falardeau | C | United States | Michigan State University (CCHA) |
| 3 | 81 | Marcus Jonasen | LW | Sweden | VIK Västerås IK Jr. (Sweden) |
| 4 | 127 | Nate Guenin | D | United States | Green Bay Gamblers (USHL) |
| 5 | 143 | Mike Walsh | LW | United States | Detroit Compuware Ambassadors (NAHL) |
| 6 | 177 | Jake Taylor | D | United States | Green Bay Gamblers (USHL) |
| 6 | 194 | Kim Hirschovits | C | Finland | HIFK (FNL) |
| 7 | 226 | Joey Crabb | RW | United States | Green Bay Gamblers (USHL) |
| 8 | 240 | Petr Prucha | LW | Czech Republic | HC Pardubice (Czech Extraliga) |
| 9 | 270 | Rob Flynn | RW | United States | Harvard University (ECAC) |