Rangers sign Justin Fontaine, place on waivers to send to Hartford

Charles LeClaire / USA TODAY Sports

The Rangers have apparently signed forward Justin Fontaine, and immediately placed him on waivers to send to the Hartford Wolf Pack. The news on both broke from one seemingly innocuous tweet from Elliotte Friedman, who stated that Fontaine was on waivers for the Rangers. Friedman is rarely wrong, but most immediately thought Gabriel Fontaine, 2016 draft pick.

In fact, it is Justin, who will go to Hartford to replace the now departed Nathan Gerbe. Gerbe has gone to Switzerland, and has been released from his contract with the Rangers. Fontaine will be that veteran presence among the forwards in Hartford. He will also play a scoring role with the club. My guess is that, given his relative success with Minnesota over the last few seasons, he will be the first injury call up in these next few weeks.

The Rangers have the same amount of contracts/forwards in the system. When Oscar Lindberg returns, one more forward will be sent to Hartford as well.