Rumor: Rangers could lose Alexandar Georgiev for nothing.

We are now less than two weeks away from the official opening of free agency in the National Hockey League and as a result pressure is mounting on several teams around the league to wrap up some important deals before the calendar turns to July 13th.

One of the many teams on that list is the New York Rangers and one of the biggest challenges they are facing regarding their upcoming offseason is the status of pending free agent goaltender Alexandar Georgiev. Georgiev is set to be a restricted free agent at the end of his current deal but there is a growing sense that the Rangers may not be willing to qualify the Bulgarian netminder.

On a recent podcast, National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman expressed his doubts about the Rangers' ability to qualify Georgiev.

"Yeah but it's a tough one for them," said Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast. "I don't know how they are going to be able to qualify him.

In the event that the Rangers fail to qualify Georgiev he would become an unrestricted free agent and would be eligible to sign with any team that offers him a contract. A trade is likely the prefered outcome here from the Rangers' perspective, but Friedman expressed concern over the fact that opposing teams are aware of the situation the Rangers currently find themselves in.

"I think teams are either gonna make a move for less than they are going to be asking for, or teams are gonna say 'We'll wait to see if you'll qualify him.'" added Friedman.

Friedman would go on to express that there are teams who doubt the Rangers will be willing to qualify Georgiev given that it would be an investment of $2.65 million against the cap, suspecting that there is in fact a chance we could see the veteran backup goaltender as an unrestricted free agent.

"Unless somebody says 'we absolutely have to have this guy'... I think that's the path a lot of people are looking at," said Friedman in conclusion.

According to Friedman's co-host Jeff Marek the Rangers have refused to move off their asking price of a player and a pick or a player and a prospect, but if Friedman is indeed correct that gamble could cost the Rangers in the long run.