Day one of free agency for the NY Rangers is in the books. We expected the Rangers wouldn’t be too active today. And of course they were. The Rangers signed six unrestricted free agents and re-signed one of their restricted free agents. Here is the breakdown:
- Brandon Crawley (defenseman, RFA): one year deal, details not disclosed.
- Kevin Rooney (center): two years, $750,000 cap hit
- Colin Blackwell (center): two years, $700,000 cap hit
- Keith Kinkaid (goalie): two years, $875,000 cap hit
- Anthony Greco (winger): two years, $737,500 cap hit
- Jack Johnson (defense): one year, $1.15 million cap hit
- Anthony Bitetto (defense): two years, $737,000 cap hit
Quick Hits
The only player virtually guaranteed to have an NHL spot next year is Jack Johnson. He played 20 minutes a night with Jacques Martin in Pittsburgh, and John Davidson had him in Columbus. Let’s be real, he will be getting top-four minutes on the left side.
The players destined for the AHL are Greco and Kinkaid. It would take injuries for them to get to the NHL. I’d expect Rooney and Blackwell to fight for a 4th line/13F role in camp. Bitetto seems like he will be be a 6/7D, likely getting more than half the games.
It was a little surprising to see the NY Rangers this active in free agency this year. However almost all of the deals were two year deals. It’s clear that both Kinkaid and Bitetto (and possibly Rooney/Blackwell) were expansion draft signings. None of these signings will have a big long-term impact on the Rangers.
The only concerning thing here is the signing of Jack Johnson. He’s arguably worse than Marc Staal, whom the rangers gave up a 2nd round pick to get rid of. That seemed like a step backwards. But it’s only one year. Let’s see how the coaching staff uses him.
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