Rangers Claim Tye Kartye Off Waivers As Kraken Reinstate Catton, Meyers

The New York Rangers claimed winger Tye Kartye off waivers from the Seattle Kraken, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported Friday. Seattle placed Kartye on waivers to clear a roster spot after reinstating Berkly Catton and Ben Meyers from injured reserve, and New York will need a corresponding move to add Kartye to its active 23-man roster.

Kartye, 24, signed with the Kraken as an undrafted free agent out of the OHL in 2022 and split time between Seattle and the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The Hockey News records an AHL season of 28 goals and 57 points in 72 games that earned Kartye AHL Rookie of the Year honors; an original excerpt in the transaction feed also credits him with 61 points in 75 AHL games for Coachella Valley, a discrepancy noted in source material. Kartye skated in 10 playoff games for Seattle, recording three goals and five points in that postseason stint.

This season Kartye appeared in 40 games for the Kraken, scoring three goals and totaling eight points while posting a minus-6 rating and averaging 10:42 of ice time, DailyFaceoff reports. ProHockeyRumors adds that Kartye was a healthy scratch in 10 of Seattle’s final 13 games before the Olympic break and scored Feb. 3 against the Anaheim Ducks. His NHL career line stands at 180 regular-season games with 20 goals and 21 assists for 41 points, and PHR lists a career plus-minus of minus-21 and a 2.79 hits-per-game average.

Kartye is in the first year of a two-year contract he signed last July, carrying a $1.25 million cap hit through the 2026-27 season, DailyFaceoff and ProHockeyRumors report. That contract term gives New York control of a physical, bottom-six profile with some center versatility, PHR notes, but the Rangers must decide whether to keep him on the NHL roster or place him on waivers again to assign him to the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Roster mechanics complicate the addition. Multiple outlets note New York is at the 23-man roster limit and will have to make a move to insert Kartye into the lineup. ProHockeyRumors speculates Scott Morrow, a waiver-exempt defenseman who was a healthy scratch in the Rangers’ recent game, could be optioned to Hartford to clear room, but that scenario is analysis rather than an announced transaction. If the Rangers attempt to send Kartye to Hartford and place him on waivers, Seattle would have the opportunity to reclaim him.

The waiver day also produced other roster churn. TSN reports St. Louis forward Mathieu Joseph cleared waivers Friday after being waived Thursday; Joseph has two goals and 11 points in 39 games this season and carries a $2.95 million cap hit on an expiring contract, and outlets say he has been assigned to the Springfield Thunderbirds.

New York is making roster decisions against a larger season backdrop: TSN and PHR note the Rangers are last in the Eastern Conference and have positioned themselves as potential sellers at next week’s trade deadline after completing their January retooling and trading Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings. The Kartye claim adds a low-cost, physical option to Manhattan’s bottom six but forces the club to move pieces before he can contribute on the ice.