The New York Rangers made some solid moves to address needs during the first day of NHL free agency. Now former Rangers Viktor Stalberg and Eric Staal were both taken off the market by the Carolina Hurricanes and the Minnesota Wild, respectively, while Nathan Gerbe, Michael Grabner, and Adam Clendening all signed with New York. Lastly, Jeff Beukeboom signed on to be the new assistant coach of the Rangers. All in all, it was an excellent haul for the Rangers on the first day.
New York Rangers Address Needs on Day 1 of Free Agency
Losses
While Stalberg and Staal were not expected to sign with the Rangers again, it is good to see that they did sign with other teams so there were no rumors of them returning.
Stalberg put up decent numbers for the amount of ice time he was given but did not do anything spectacular. He ended his short career with the Rangers with nine goals and 20 points in 75 games.
Staal finished his more than disappointing spurt with the Rangers with less than impressive numbers; tallying only three goals and six points in 20 games.
Neither player scored in the short five game series against Pittsburgh, and both ended with negative +/- rating. Stalberg and Staal are both approaching the end of their prime with both over 30 years old.
Additions
The signing of Gerbe is a good signing with low risk and high reward. Gerbe signed a contract with the Rangers for $650,000 for one season. The dollar amount is a huge drop from Gerbe’s previous contract worth $3.5 million over two seasons. He has never scored over 31 points in a season and has only broken 25 points four times in eight seasons. So why did the Rangers sign him?
OFFICIAL: #NYR have agreed to terms with forward Nathan Gerbe. pic.twitter.com/AioFIA34Qp
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) July 1, 2016
Gerbe is the perfect example of a grinding forward who plays bigger than his size. At only 5’5 and 178 lbs, Gerbe is not afraid to go up against some of the league’s biggest players and will grind for the puck on the forecheck.
Gerbe will likely never see action above the 4th line of the Rangers and may very well end up as a healthy scratch or on the Hartford Wolfpack. Despite coming off the worst season of his career, Gerbe is looking to turn his career around. He only accounted for three goals and seven points in 47 games and at only 28 years old, he still has some years ahead of him. Gerbe will hopefully be looking to revamp his career, and this is the perfect opportunity to do so.
Grabner may be the best deal of the day for this year. He is everything the Rangers have been missing since Carl Hagelin left, minus some scoring and the hair. Grabner is coming off a subpar year with the Toronto Maple Leafs, only scoring nine goals and 18 points in 80 games.
Grabner can kill penalties and is one of the fastest skaters in the league, winning the fastest skater competition during All-Star weekend in 2011. With his contract only lasting two years with a $1.8 million AAV, this is an absolute steal for the Rangers. Grabner will likely play on the third line for the Rangers and be a major factor for the penalty kill.
He is only 28 years old and will, like Gerbe, try to kick-start his career. The main difference is that Grabner has proven he can be a top-line winger. In his first two seasons with the Islanders he combined for a total of 54 goals and 84 points in 154 games. While he may not be competing for the Art Ross Trophy, Grabner still has lots of potential and the Rangers will have the chance to lock him down once this contract is up.
Rangers Look to the Future
While Grabner may be the best deal for this upcoming year, Clendening is the best deal for the future. He has played two seasons in the NHL with four NHL teams, as well as two AHL teams in the same time span.
Clendening has not been a very significant impact on the scoreboard, but his off-puck abilities outweigh this. He stands 6′ tall and can play the penalty kill well. His positioning in the defensive zone is good, and he does not shy down from physical play.
One downfall seen from multiple scouting reports is his speed. While he has been known to quarterback a power play at lower levels, his lack of speed has really hurt him at the NHL level. While the timing of this statement may be questionable due to his recent status with fans, Clendening is like Marc Staal: He can play special teams and has good senses to make up for average speed. This may be an issue later in his career, as Staal is facing now, but at only 23 years old, Clendening has the future ahead of him, and that future begins with the Rangers.
Behind the Bench
While this was not a player signing, it is important for the Rangers. With the departure of Ulf Samuelsson, the Rangers brought up Hartford assistant coach and former Ranger Beukeboom.
Beukeboom was known in his playing days for solid defensive play and penalty killing. This is important because both of these were issues for the Rangers this season. As his four-year tenure with the Wolfpack went on, they gave up fewer goals and were always among the league’s best in goals against. He also led the team to four winning seasons and one playoff appearance where the Wolfpack made it to the Conference Finals before being eliminated. This signing will hopefully help the team where they truly need help and get the Rangers back on track quickly.
One headline which is not surprising after day one of free agency is that Staal and Dan Girardi both still wear blue. Over the course of a single season, they have become two of the most hated Rangers by their fans, and it seems almost unanimous that at least one of them needs to go if the team want to rebuild.
They both share very expensive contracts with no move clauses and take up $11.2 million of cap space. They are both aging as well, as Staal is 29 and Girardi are 32. It seems unlikely that both will move this off-season, and if one were to go, it would most likely be Staal. He is younger and can score more than Girardi, who will more than likely stay because the team can buy him out next season for a reduced price compared to buying him out this year.
However, the reason their continuing presence on the team is not surprising was the abundance of free agents out there. While Girardi and Staal could both bring in decent returns for the Rangers, there are more options now, and teams will likely bite on a deal for either defenseman once the pool of players thins out.
Overall, this day one was a success for the Rangers. They signed players and coaches for good deals that will address the issues from last season. They addressed the poor penalty kill and defense, while also adding players to depth roles to replace Stalberg.
Main Photo:
