New York Rangers Sign Michael Grabner, Nathan Gerbe
According to the team, the New York Rangers have agreed to terms with free agent forward Michael Grabner. Elliotte Friedman reports that the deal is worth $1.65MM per season for the former Islander and Maple Leaf.
The team has also announced that they’ve signed Nathan Gerbe, after playing last season in Carolina. Darren Dreger gives us the breakdown: it’s a one-year deal worth $600K.
Grabner, 28, played last season with Toronto after coming over in a trade last summer. Often suiting up on the top-line alongside Nazem Kadri, the former 30-goal man continued to prove that his offensive days are behind him. Only scoring nine goals and 18 points, his biggest contribution was on the penalty kill, where his speed and agility still offer big upside.
In New York, he won’t be asked for much more than that, slotting into the bottom six behind a crop of young forwards. Mats Zuccarello, and Jesper Fast project to skate on the right side of the top two lines, but Grabner will provide at least some depth at the position if J.T. Miller continues to be deployed down the middle.
Gerbe, one of the smallest players to ever play in the NHL at 5’5″, returns to the state he made his debut in. After being drafted by the Sabres in 2005, Gerbe put up 16 goals and 31 points in his first full season with the club. While he didn’t have a very productive 2015-16, he still adds a lot of energy and speed to the bottom six.
Free Agent Focus: New York Rangers
The New York Rangers again amassed over 100 points and made the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year in 2015-16, going 46-27-9 and just edging out the Islanders for third in the Metropolitan division. What that won them was a matchup with the eventual Stanley Cup winning Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round. As they head into the summer, they have some big questions to answer all over their club, with only 14 players under contract at the moment.
Key Restricted Free Agents: There isn’t just a single RFA that the Rangers need to worry about, there is a trio of them. LW Chris Kreider, C Kevin Hayes and RW J.T. Miller are all arbitration eligible and due for substantial raises this summer, after scoring 57 goals between them. Miller led the pack with 22 including five game winners, and racked up 43 points (tied with Kreider).
The Rangers may have some trouble with the expansion draft next year, as these three will all need protection along with Derek Stepan, Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello which will put at risk some of their other young players like Jesper Fast or Oscar Lindberg, even if they leave Rick Nash unprotected. It will be even more strained if they decide to sign any big name free agent forward, most of which would demand a NMC to come to New York.
Other RFAs: Dylan McIlrath
Key Unrestricted Free Agent: D Keith Yandle – The top blueliner on the UFA market this summer, Yandle is going to command a huge salary and will have teams lining up to offer it. After coming over in a trade from the Arizona Coyotes in 2014-15, Yandle has been one of the better defencemen in the league, putting up 58 points in a Rangers uniform.
The 29-year old will head into free agency after completing a five-year $26.25MM dollar contract he signed with the Coyotes in 2011. That cap-hit of $5.25MM is sure to go up this summer when teams bang down his door looking for a #1 defenceman. Over the last five seasons, Yandle has the 5th most points of any defenceman in the league, only trailing Erik Karlsson, P.K. Subban, Dustin Byfuglien, and Shea Weber – all of whom are earning at least $7MM next year.
Other UFAs: Dan Boyle, Eric Staal, Viktor Stalberg, Dominic Moore
Projected Cap Space: $15.33MM, 14 players under contract.
Losing Yandle and Boyle from their blueline doesn’t look good for the Rangers, who won’t have much room for free agents after the deals for their RFAs. With Dan Girardi and Marc Staal both taking a lot of heat for their poor possession numbers, the team might be in trouble defensively next season. The Penguins exploited it in the playoffs, and with Henrik Lundqvist another year older he may not be able to bail them out as much in 2015-16.
The deal for Eric Staal ended up not working out very well for the club, as he scored just six points for the club down the stretch before being held scoreless in the playoffs. Carolina has already made good use of one of the picks, dealing it to Chicago as the main piece in the Teuvo Teravainen deal two days ago.
If the team is to get back to the playoffs they’ll have to rely on their speed and skill up front, unless they make a move to shore up that back end. Look for teams to start kicking the tires on those young forwards, trying to entice one or two of them out of the Big Apple, and into their system.