Well, Rangers GM Glen Sather got his priority deal done. Reports have surfaced this morning that superstar defenseman Ryan McDonagh has agreed to a six year contract extension with the New York Rangers, reportedly worth around $28.2 million.
McDonagh quickly earned a name for being one of the top shut down defensemen in the league, often paired with Dan Girardi, spending most of his ice time matched up against the opposition’s best forwards. McDonagh came to the Rangers as part of the deal that sent Scott Gomez to the Montreal Canadiens. He finished the 2013 season with 4 goals, and 15 assists, and has 12 goals and 48 assists over his three season NHL career.
Two things to note here: Firstly, this is a break from Sather’s normal contract habits. Usually, a player coming off his first deal will receive a short “bridge” deal, in other words a deal for roughly 3 years to ensure the Rangers do not overpay for a player that is still developing. This may indicate how important Ryan McDonagh has become to this Rangers organization. Secondly, the Rangers are a cap challenged squad, especially since they decided to not use their final amnesty buyout on Brad Richards. The Rangers came into this off season with four RFAs (Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin, Mats Zuccarello, and McDonagh) and with McDonagh signing this rich a deal, only two out of the three remaining RFAs will be signed.
If I had to put money on it, I would say the next priority for Sather is to lock up Derek Stepan. Stepan seened to come into his own this season, scoring 21 goals, good enough for a tie for the team lead with Rick Nash. Also of note, Sather did meet with netminder Henrik Lundvist‘s agent to begin negotiations for his contract extension.
There’s still a lot of work left for Sather before he can relax for this short summer.
