# 2001–02 New York Rangers season

The 2001–02 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 76th season. During the regular season, the Rangers finished fourth in the Atlantic Division, compiling a 36–38–4–4 record. Their 11th-place finish in the Eastern Conference kept them out of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the fifth straight season. Head coach Ron Low was fired after the season.

## Pre-season

On September 20, 2001, in the middle of a 2–2 game between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers, the game was stopped. A message from United States President George W. Bush about the September 11 attacks was broadcast on the arena video screen. After the message, the game did not resume and it was declared a 2–2 tie.

## Regular season

The Rangers struggled in short-handed situations, finishing the regular season with the most power-play opportunities against (398), the most power-play goals allowed (80) and the lowest penalty-kill percentage (79.90%).

### Final standings

Atlantic Division :
| No. | CR | | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | 2 | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 42 | 27 | 10 | 3 | 234 | 192 | 97 |
| 2 | 5 | New York Islanders | 82 | 42 | 28 | 8 | 4 | 239 | 220 | 96 |
| 3 | 6 | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 41 | 28 | 9 | 4 | 205 | 187 | 95 |
| 4 | 11 | New York Rangers | 82 | 36 | 38 | 4 | 4 | 227 | 258 | 80 |
| 5 | 12 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 28 | 41 | 8 | 5 | 198 | 249 | 69 |
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 | Z- Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 43 | 24 | 6 | 9 | 236 | 201 | 101 |
| 2 | Y- Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 42 | 27 | 10 | 3 | 234 | 192 | 97 |
| 3 | Y- Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 35 | 26 | 16 | 5 | 217 | 217 | 91 |
| 4 | X- Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 43 | 25 | 10 | 4 | 249 | 207 | 100 |
| 5 | X- New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 42 | 28 | 8 | 4 | 239 | 220 | 96 |
| 6 | X- New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 41 | 28 | 9 | 4 | 205 | 187 | 95 |
| 7 | X- Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 39 | 27 | 9 | 7 | 243 | 208 | 94 |
| 8 | X- Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 36 | 31 | 12 | 3 | 207 | 209 | 87 |
| 8.5 |||||||||||
| 9 | Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 36 | 33 | 11 | 2 | 228 | 240 | 85 |
| 10 | Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 35 | 35 | 11 | 1 | 213 | 200 | 82 |
| 11 | New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 36 | 38 | 4 | 4 | 227 | 258 | 80 |
| 12 | Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 28 | 41 | 8 | 5 | 198 | 249 | 69 |
| 13 | Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 27 | 40 | 11 | 4 | 178 | 219 | 69 |
| 14 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 22 | 44 | 10 | 6 | 180 | 250 | 60 |
| 15 | Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 19 | 47 | 11 | 5 | 187 | 288 | 54 |
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast
Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

## Schedule and results

2001–02 regular season :
October: 6–6–1–0 (home: 3–3–0–0; road: 3–3–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
1October 5, 2001@ Carolina Hurricanes3–10–1–0–0Recap
2October 7, 2001Buffalo Sabres5–4 OT1–1–0–0Recap
3October 10, 2001Washington Capitals5–21–2–0–0Recap
4October 13, 2001@ Ottawa Senators2–2 OT1–2–1–0Recap
5October 15, 2001@ Montreal Canadiens2–12–2–1–0Recap
6October 17, 2001New Jersey Devils4–3 OT3–2–1–0Recap
7October 19, 2001@ Atlanta Thrashers4–34–2–1–0Recap
8October 20, 2001@ Tampa Bay Lightning5–24–3–1–0Recap
9October 22, 2001San Jose Sharks5–14–4–1–0Recap
10October 25, 2001@ St. Louis Blues5–14–5–1–0Recap
11October 27, 2001@ Boston Bruins2–1 OT5–5–1–0Recap
12October 29, 2001Dallas Stars4–26–5–1–0Recap
13October 31, 2001Florida Panthers3–16–6–1–0Recap :
November: 9–3–1–1 (home: 6–1–0–0; road: 3–2–1–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
14November 2, 2001@ Carolina Hurricanes3–26–7–1–0Recap
15November 3, 2001@ Florida Panthers5–37–7–1–0Recap
16November 6, 2001Minnesota Wild3–18–7–1–0Recap
17November 8, 2001@ New York Islanders6–29–7–1–0Recap
18November 10, 2001@ Buffalo Sabres4–210–7–1–0Recap
19November 11, 2001Montreal Canadiens3–2 OT11–7–1–0Recap
20November 14, 2001Philadelphia Flyers4–212–7–1–0Recap
21November 17, 2001@ Pittsburgh Penguins1–0 OT12–7–1–1Recap
22November 18, 2001Atlanta Thrashers6–213–7–1–1Recap
23November 20, 2001Colorado Avalanche5–314–7–1–1Recap
24November 23, 2001@ Washington Capitals6–214–8–1–1Recap
25November 25, 2001Mighty Ducks of Anaheim3–214–9–1–1Recap
26November 27, 2001@ Buffalo Sabres2–2 OT14–9–2–1Recap
27November 29, 2001Carolina Hurricanes5–015–9–2–1Recap :
December: 7–6–1–1 (home: 4–3–0–1; road: 3–3–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
28December 1, 2001@ Montreal Canadiens3–116–9–2–1Recap
29December 2, 2001Tampa Bay Lightning1–017–9–2–1Recap
30December 4, 2001@ Washington Capitals5–217–10–2–1Recap
31December 6, 2001Toronto Maple Leafs6–317–11–2–1Recap
32December 8, 2001@ Toronto Maple Leafs4–317–12–2–1Recap
33December 10, 2001Carolina Hurricanes4–3 OT17–12–2–2Recap
34December 12, 2001Nashville Predators4–217–13–2–2Recap
35December 15, 2001Buffalo Sabres4–218–13–2–2Recap
36December 17, 2001Florida Panthers4–219–13–2–2Recap
37December 19, 2001New Jersey Devils2–2 OT19–13–3–2Recap
38December 21, 2001New York Islanders2–119–14–3–2Recap
39December 23, 2001Ottawa Senators3–220–14–3–2Recap
40December 28, 2001@ San Jose Sharks5–321–14–3–2Recap
41December 29, 2001@ Los Angeles Kings5–422–14–3–2Recap
42December 31, 2001@ Phoenix Coyotes5–022–15–3–2Recap :
January: 3–8–1–1 (home: 2–2–1–0; road: 1–6–0–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
43January 2, 2002@ Edmonton Oilers4–122–16–3–2Recap
44January 3, 2002@ Colorado Avalanche3–2 OT22–16–3–3Recap
45January 5, 2002@ Pittsburgh Penguins4–122–17–3–3Recap
46January 9, 2002Los Angeles Kings4–022–18–3–3Recap
47January 12, 2002@ Philadelphia Flyers4–222–19–3–3Recap
48January 14, 2002Columbus Blue Jackets2–2 OT22–19–4–3Recap
49January 16, 2002@ Columbus Blue Jackets2–022–20–4–3Recap
50January 17, 2002@ New Jersey Devils6–422–21–4–3Recap
51January 22, 2002@ New York Islanders5–423–21–4–3Recap
52January 23, 2002Boston Bruins8–424–21–4–3Recap
53January 26, 2002Washington Capitals6–325–21–4–3Recap
54January 28, 2002Tampa Bay Lightning1–025–22–4–3Recap
55January 30, 2002New York Islanders6–325–23–4–3Recap :
February: 2–4–0–0 (home: 1–2–0–0; road: 1–2–0–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
56February 6, 2002@ Detroit Red Wings3–125–24–4–3Recap
57February 8, 2002@ Atlanta Thrashers2–126–24–4–3Recap
58February 10, 2002Pittsburgh Penguins4–327–24–4–3Recap
59February 13, 2002@ Dallas Stars4–227–25–4–3Recap
60February 26, 2002New Jersey Devils4–327–26–4–3Recap
61February 28, 2002Ottawa Senators3–027–27–4–3Recap :
March: 5–9–0–1 (home: 2–6–0–0; road: 3–3–0–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
62March 2, 2002Philadelphia Flyers6–528–27–4–3Recap
63March 4, 2002Calgary Flames5–328–28–4–3Recap
64March 5, 2002@ Minnesota Wild3–2 OT29–28–4–3Recap
65March 7, 2002@ Chicago Blackhawks5–129–29–4–3Recap
66March 9, 2002@ Pittsburgh Penguins3–2 OT29–29–4–4Recap
67March 11, 2002Montreal Canadiens2–130–29–4–4Recap
68March 13, 2002Boston Bruins3–130–30–4–4Recap
69March 16, 2002@ New Jersey Devils3–130–31–4–4Recap
70March 17, 2002Detroit Red Wings5–330–32–4–4Recap
71March 19, 2002Vancouver Canucks3–130–33–4–4Recap
72March 21, 2002@ Ottawa Senators5–231–33–4–4Recap
73March 22, 2002Atlanta Thrashers5–231–34–4–4Recap
74March 25, 2002@ New York Islanders4–231–35–4–4Recap
75March 27, 2002Philadelphia Flyers4–231–36–4–4Recap
76March 30, 2002@ Florida Panthers4–232–36–4–4Recap :
April: 4–2–0–0 (home: 1–1–0–0; road: 3–1–0–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
77April 1, 2002@ Tampa Bay Lightning6–433–36–4–4Recap
78April 4, 2002@ Toronto Maple Leafs4–234–36–4–4Recap
79April 6, 2002@ Boston Bruins6–435–36–4–4Recap
80April 8, 2002Pittsburgh Penguins3–236–36–4–4Recap
81April 10, 2002Toronto Maple Leafs7–236–37–4–4Recap
82April 13, 2002@ Philadelphia Flyers2–136–38–4–4Recap :
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 |
| 88 | Eric Lindros | C | 72 | 37 | 36 | 73 | 19 | 138 |
| 14 | Theoren Fleury | LW | 82 | 24 | 39 | 63 | 0 | 216 |
| 16 | Mike York‡ | RW | 69 | 18 | 39 | 57 | 8 | 16 |
| 2 | Brian Leetch | D | 82 | 10 | 45 | 55 | 14 | 28 |
| 93 | Petr Nedved | C | 78 | 21 | 25 | 46 | −8 | 36 |
| 20 | Radek Dvorak | RW | 65 | 17 | 20 | 37 | −20 | 14 |
| 23 | Vladimir Malakhov | D | 81 | 6 | 22 | 28 | 10 | 83 |
| 26 | Andreas Johansson | LW | 70 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 6 | 46 |
| 10 | Sandy McCarthy | RW | 82 | 10 | 13 | 23 | −8 | 171 |
| 11 | Mark Messier | C | 41 | 7 | 16 | 23 | −1 | 32 |
| 34 | Bryan Berard | D | 82 | 2 | 21 | 23 | −1 | 60 |
| 36 | Matthew Barnaby† | RW | 48 | 8 | 13 | 21 | −3 | 144 |
| 9 | Pavel Bure† | RW | 12 | 12 | 8 | 20 | 9 | 6 |
| 37 | Mikael Samuelsson | RW | 67 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 10 | 23 |
| 6 | Manny Malhotra‡ | C | 56 | 7 | 6 | 13 | −1 | 42 |
| 18 | Zdeno Ciger‡ | LW | 29 | 6 | 7 | 13 | −3 | 16 |
| 19 | Martin Rucinsky† | LW | 15 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 6 | 6 |
| 32 | Jeff Toms‡ | C | 38 | 7 | 4 | 11 | −4 | 10 |
| 33 | Dave Karpa | D | 75 | 1 | 10 | 11 | −9 | 131 |
| 3 | Tom Poti† | D | 11 | 1 | 7 | 8 | −4 | 2 |
| 55 | Igor Ulanov‡ | D | 39 | 0 | 6 | 6 | −4 | 53 |
| 8 | Michal Grosek | RW | 15 | 3 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 12 |
| 24 | Sylvain Lefebvre | D | 41 | 0 | 5 | 5 | −3 | 23 |
| 22 | Tomas Kloucek | D | 52 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −2 | 137 |
| 5 | Dale Purinton | D | 40 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 113 |
| 21 | Steve McKenna | LW | 54 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 144 |
| 17 | Rem Murray† | C | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −9 | 4 |
| 29 | Roman Lyashenko† | C | 15 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Darren Van Impe‡ | D | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| 25 | Peter Smrek‡ | D | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −7 | 4 |
| 31 | Dan Blackburn | G | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 10 |
| 27 | Jason Dawe | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| 38 | Rico Fata | RW | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| 47 | Barrett Heisten‡ | C | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 2 |
| 40 | Johan Holmqvist | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 4 | Mike Mottau | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Mike Richter | G | 55 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 4 |
| 13 | Richard Scott | LW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 39 | Trent Whitfield†‡ | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

### Goaltending

| 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 |
| 35 | Mike Richter | 55 | 24 | 26 | 4 | 1832 | 157 | 2.95 | .906 | 2 | 3195 |
| 31 | Dan Blackburn | 31 | 12 | 16 | 0 | 1030 | 95 | 3.28 | .898 | 0 | 1737 |
| 40 | Johan Holmqvist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.000 | 0 | 9 |
Sources:

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient |
| League (annual) | NHL All-Rookie Team | Dan Blackburn (Goaltender) |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Brian Leetch |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Eric Lindros |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Mike York |
| League (in-season) | NHL Player of the Week | Mike Richter (December 3) |
| League (in-season) | NHL YoungStars Game selection | Dan Blackburn |
| Team | Ceil Saidel Memorial Award | Brian Leetch |
| Team | Frank Boucher Trophy | Mike Richter |
| Team | Good Guy Award | Brian Leetch |
| Team | Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award | Dan Blackburn |
| Team | Players' Player Award | Brian Leetch |
| Team | Rangers MVP | Mike Richter |
| Team | Rookie of the Year | Dan Blackburn |
| Team | Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award | Sandy McCarthy |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Barrett Heisten | October 5, 2001 |
| First game | Dan Blackburn | October 10, 2001 |
| First game | Richard Scott | October 27, 2001 |
| 1,000th point | Theoren Fleury | October 29, 2001 |
| 1,000th game played | Theoren Fleury | January 23, 2002 |
| 600th assist | Theoren Fleury | January 23, 2002 |
| 1,000th game played | Brian Leetch | February 28, 2002 |

## Transactions

The Rangers were involved in the following transactions from June 10, 2001, through June 13, 2002.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 23, 2001 (2001-06-23) | To New York Rangers Chris St. Croix | To Calgary Flames Burke Henry |
| June 23, 2001 (2001-06-23) | To New York Rangers 3rd-round pick in 20015th-round pick in 2001 | To Minnesota Wild 3rd-round pick in 2001 |
| June 24, 2001 (2001-06-24) | To New York Rangers Christian GosselinMikael Samuelsson | To San Jose Sharks Adam Graves |
| June 24, 2001 (2001-06-24) | To New York Rangers 8th-round pick in 2001 | To Atlanta Thrashers Rights to Jeff Dessner |
| June 24, 2001 (2001-06-24) | To New York Rangers 7th-round pick in 2001 | To Calgary Flames 7th-round pick in 2002 |
| June 29, 2001 (2001-06-29) | To New York Rangers Sean GagnonFuture considerations | To Ottawa Senators Jason DoigJeff Ulmer |
| June 29, 2001 (2001-06-29) | To New York Rangers Conditional 7th-round pick in 2002 | To San Jose Sharks Rich Pilon |
| June 30, 2001 (2001-06-30) | To New York Rangers Dave Duerden | To Florida Panthers Future considerations |
| June 30, 2001 (2001-06-30) | To New York Rangers Nils EkmanKyle Freadrich | To Tampa Bay Lightning Tim Taylor |
| August 20, 2001 (2001-08-20) | To New York Rangers Rights to Eric LindrosConditional 1st-round pick in 2003 | To Philadelphia Flyers Pavel BrendlJan HlavacKim Johnsson3rd-round pick in 2003 |
| December 12, 2001 (2001-12-12) | To New York Rangers Matthew Barnaby | To Tampa Bay Lightning Zdeno Ciger |
| March 12, 2002 (2002-03-12) | To New York Rangers Roman LyashenkoMartin Rucinsky | To Dallas Stars Barrett HeistenManny Malhotra |
| March 18, 2002 (2002-03-18) | To New York Rangers Pavel Bure2nd-round pick in 2002 | To Florida Panthers Igor UlanovRights to Filip Novak1st-round pick in 20022nd-round pick in 20024th-round pick in 2003 |
| March 19, 2002 (2002-03-19) | To New York Rangers Richard Lintner | To Nashville Predators Peter Smrek |
| March 19, 2002 (2002-03-19) | To New York Rangers Rem MurrayTom Poti | To Edmonton Oilers Mike York4th-round pick in 2002 |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Via |
| June 11, 2001 (2001-06-11) | Barrett Heisten | Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) | Free agency |
| June 12, 2001 (2001-06-12) | Matt Kinch | Calgary Hitmen (WHL) | Free agency |
| June 13, 2001 (2001-06-13) | Layne Ulmer | Swift Current Broncos (WHL) | Free agency |
| June 26, 2001 (2001-06-26) | Scott Meyer | St. Cloud State University (WCHA) | Free agency |
| July 1, 2001 (2001-07-01) | Dave Karpa | Carolina Hurricanes | Free agency |
| July 1, 2001 (2001-07-01) | Igor Ulanov | Edmonton Oilers | Free agency |
| July 17, 2001 (2001-07-17) | Zdeno Ciger | HC Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) | Free agency |
| August 7, 2001 (2001-08-07) | Darren Van Impe | Boston Bruins | Waivers |
| August 23, 2001 (2001-08-23) | P. J. Stock | Philadelphia Flyers | Free agency |
| August 28, 2001 (2001-08-28) | Steve McKenna | Pittsburgh Penguins | Free agency |
| September 15, 2001 (2001-09-15) | Rory Rawlyk | Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL) | Free agency |
| October 3, 2001 (2001-10-03) | Rico Fata | Calgary Flames | Waivers |
| October 4, 2001 (2001-10-04) | Bryan Berard | Toronto Maple Leafs | Free agency |
| January 16, 2002 (2002-01-16) | Trent Whitfield | Washington Capitals | Waivers |
| March 19, 2002 (2002-03-19) | Bobby Andrews | University of Alaska Fairbanks (CCHA) | Free agency |
| June 12, 2002 (2002-06-12) | Benoit Dusablon | Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| June 30, 2001 (2001-06-30) | Colin Forbes | Utah Grizzlies (AHL) | Buyout |
| June 30, 2001 (2001-06-30) | Valeri Kamensky | Dallas Stars | Buyout |
| July 1, 2001 (2001-07-01) | Guy Hebert | | Buyout |
| July 1, 2001 (2001-07-01) | Kirk McLean | | Contract expiration (III) |
| July 18, 2001 (2001-07-18) | Derek Armstrong | SC Bern (NLA) | Free agency (II) |
| July 23, 2001 (2001-07-23) | Tony Tuzzolino | Boston Bruins | Free agency (VI) |
| July 27, 2001 (2001-07-27) | Drew Bannister | Anaheim Mighty Ducks | Free agency (UFA) |
| July 31, 2001 (2001-07-31) | Brad Brown | Minnesota Wild | Free agency (UFA) |
| August 10, 2001 (2001-08-10) | David Wilkie | Augusta Lynx (ECHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| August 21, 2001 (2001-08-21) | Ryan Tobler | Tampa Bay Lightning | Free agency (UFA) |
| September 14, 2001 (2001-09-14) | Nils Ekman | Djurgardens IF (SHL) | Free agency (II) |
| September 28, 2001 (2001-09-28) | P. J. Stock | Boston Bruins | Waiver draft |
| September 29, 2001 (2001-09-29) | Ben Carpentier | Providence Bruins (AHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| December 18, 2001 (2001-12-18) | Darren Van Impe | Florida Panthers | Waivers |
| January 31, 2002 (2002-01-31) | Martin Richter | HC Sparta Praha (ELH) | Free agency |
| February 1, 2002 (2002-02-01) | Trent Whitfield | Washington Capitals | Waivers |
| March 16, 2002 (2002-03-16) | Jeff Toms | Pittsburgh Penguins | Waivers |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| June 21, 2001 (2001-06-21) | Andreas Johansson | | Re-signing |
| July 10, 2001 (2001-07-10) | Vitali Yeremeyev | | Re-signing |
| July 16, 2001 (2001-07-16) | Fedor Tyutin | | Entry-level |
| July 24, 2001 (2001-07-24) | Sandy McCarthy | | Re-signing |
| August 6, 2001 (2001-08-06) | Manny Malhotra | | Re-signing |
| August 7, 2001 (2001-08-07) | Jeff Toms | | Re-signing |
| August 8, 2001 (2001-08-08) | Jason Dawe | | Re-signing |
| August 9, 2001 (2001-08-09) | Brad Smyth | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 20, 2001 (2001-08-20) | Eric Lindros | 4-year | Re-signing |
| September 16, 2001 (2001-09-16) | Petr Nedved | | Re-signing |
| October 1, 2001 (2001-10-01) | Dan Blackburn | | Entry-level |

## Draft picks

New York's picks at the 2001 NHL entry draft in Sunrise, Florida at the National Car Rental Center.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 10 | Dan Blackburn | G | Canada | Kootenay Ice (WHL) |
| 2 | 40 | Fedor Tyutin | D | Russia | SKA Saint Petersburg (Russia) |
| 3 | 79 | Garth Murray | C | Canada | Regina Pats (WHL) |
| 4 | 113 | Bryce Lampman | D | United States | Omaha Lancers (USHL) |
| 5 | 139 | Shawn Collymore | RW | Canada | Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) |
| 6 | 176 | Marek Zidlicky | D | Czech Republic | HIFK (FNL) |
| 7 | 206 | Petr Preucil | LW | Czech Republic | Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) |
| 7 | 226 | Pontus Petterstrom | LW | Sweden | Tingsryds (Sweden) |
| 8 | 230 | Leonid Zhvachkin | D | Russia | Podolsk Jr. (Russia) |
| 8 | 238 | Ryan Hollweg | C | United States | Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL) |
| 9 | 269 | Juris Stals | C | Czech Republic | Lukko (FNL) |