Rangers Sign Tim Kennedy

The Rangers have signed ex Sabres forward Tim Kennedy.

The 24 year old, 5’10 forward became a UFA after the Buffalo Sabres bought his deal out after accepting an arbitration award in the region of $1m earlier this summer.  Kennedy had a solid rookie year for the Sabres scoring 10 goals and 26 points and can play both left wing and center. Terms of the signing have yet to be disclosed but the deal has been reported on twitter by beat writers Andrew Gross and Steve Zipay.

The signing is by no means a bad one but an odd one. You have to assume that Kennedy would be a bottom 6 player for the Rangers, an area where the Rangers have an abundance both in New York and Hartford. Kennedy does have upside however, prior to his solid NHL rookie year he had an excellent year in the AHL where he put up 67 points for Portland.

Hockeys future had this to say about Kennedy:

His defensive zone play and willingness to take the body have remained strengths, and he showed good leadership ability with his college team.  Though not a pure scorer, he is an opportunistic and smart offensive player, with good fundamentals.

His signing is surely the final nail in the Brian Boyle coffin and Kennedy does seem to have offensive upside even if he doesn’t have natural goal scoring ability. Kennedy in NY also makes the future of players like Dane Byers murkier. After all, where can they all fit? While an odd signing at worst  this is another low risk high reward signing by Sather as Kennedy costs nothing but dollars and could surprise with his talent. Training camp competition just got a little more fierce.

Update (Dave): James Mirtle is reporting that the deal is a one year, one way deal at $550k. The Rangers now have 11 C/LW on the roster.

It’s Official: Frolov Signs with the Rangers

As per everyone on Twitter, the Rangers have officially signed UFA Alex Frolov to a one year, $3 million deal. Frolov chose this deal over a four year, $20 million deal to play in the KHL. The 28 year old LW adds legitimate scoring from the left side, something the Rangers didn’t have prior. It also gives the Rangers much more depth in the top-six forwards, and provides some help for Marian Gaborik.

This is a very solid deal for the Rangers. No long term commitment was needed, the contract itself is cheap, and it adds some secondary scoring and flexibility in the roster. If coach John Tortorella decides to keep the Vinny Prospal-Brandon Dubinsky-Marian Gaborik line in tact, then Frolov slides to the second line with either Erik Christensen or Artem Anisimov, and most likely Ryan Callahan. With Frolov on the roster, Sean Avery slides to his best role, as a third line winger.

Some will say that the move “blocks the youth”. To that, I say bull. It’s a one year deal, and it’s not like any of the top-six prospects are ready. The likes of Derek Stepan and Evgeny Grachev will need a full season in Hartford. If they impress, then it’s a situation any fan would want to see the Rangers in. A situation with too many skilled players is better than a situation without enough.

Update: With Frolov signed, the Rangers have $1.4 million remaining under the $59.4 salary cap. They also have about $6.8 million remaining on the summer cap. There is more than enough room to sign Marc Staal this summer. However, to fit the team under the cap, some salary needs to go.

The Depth Chart has been updated.

Frolov To Sign with Rangers

As per Laurie Carr, who does a great job breaking news via Russian sources, the Rangers will sign Alex Frolov to a one year deal. Frolov, who had a lucrative four year deal on the table from the KHL, has chosen the Rangers in lieu of bolting to Russia.

Sauer Accepts Qualifying Offer

Rangers RFA defenseman Michael Sauer has accepted his qualifying offer. Sauer made $800,000 last season, and his QO would be somewhere in the $900,000 range. Sauer will probably be in Hartford next year, considering the depth of NHLers and top end prospects on the blue line already. The 6’3 220 lb defenseman missed most of last season in Hartford with injuries.

Brodie Dupont re-signed

The Rangers have re-signed Brodie Dupont.

The big physical wing/center plays a style of hockey that gives him a chance at making the Rangers in camp. Listed at 6’2 and 210lbs Dupont has the size to go with his style of hockey which is physical play and a willingness to take the body. Dupont has been relatively slow to adapt to professional hockey but has shown a solid level of consistency in Hartford despite playing on a struggling club last year. With good hands for a big man and credited with being a good character player Dupont could give the Rangers a nice blend of size and skill in the bottom 6.

In 09/10 Dupont scored 17 goals and 22 assist while playing in 80 games for the Wolfpack. The season before Dupont scored 18 goals and 42 points. His size and skill package is intriguing and he shouldnt be ruled out for a Rangers spot along with the likes of Weise, Byers and Prust. Power forwards are notoriously slow to develop and Dupont may be starting to put it all together. With a new contract the Rangers are showing they still have confidence in the big Canadian. At worst Dupont provides Hartford with a strong player at the AHL level. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Mitch Beck of Howlings had this encouraging analysis of Dupont’s season:

Dupont was exceptional in the middle last season in Hartford. He has the ability to get to the paint and score and was VERY strong in his own end defensively and was almost unbeatable in the circle on face-offs.

If Dupont plays like that at camp he has a legitimate chance…

Rangers Sign Jeremy Williams

The Rangers have come to terms with forward Jeremy Williams, of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Williams, 26, spent last year in the AHL, and has bounced around between the NHL and the AHL throughout his career. In his 31 NHL games, Williams has a line of 9-2-11 with 6 PIMS. The 5’11 188 lb winger, who was selected in the 7th round (#220 overall) of the 2003 draft by the Leafs, is probably going to serve as a depth winger in Hartford.

Rangers Re-Sign Dan Girardi

Well, just hours after the post about what Dan Girardi (and Marc Staal) should be getting in a deal, the Rangers inked Dan Girardi to a four year contract for $13.3 million, which averages out to a $3.325 million cap hit. In the post below, I said that Girardi is going to get around $3 million, +/- $500,000, so I’m going to pat myself on the back for that one.

Girardi’s contract locks up a key cog on the Rangers blue line for four years, until Girardi turns 30. By signing Girardi to a multi-year contract, the Rangers avoid arbitration with Girardi, where he was sure to get this dollar amount for a single season. Also, by signing the multi-year deal, the Rangers keep Girardi under contract for three of his prime UFA years. This is a solid deal for Girardi, who gets a bad rap because of the Philly brain-fart. Girardi is easily a top-four defenseman on this team, and about 25 other NHL teams.

Now, just lock up Marc Staal please.

Ryan McDonagh Signs

The Rangers have officially signed touted prospect Ryan McDonagh out of the University of Wisconsin. McDonagh, a physical defensive defenseman, was acquired as a part of the Scott Gomez trade in June, 2009. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but expect something along the lines of the Derek Stepan deal.

Update: The cap numbers for McDonagh are in, via CapGeek. McDonagh signed a three year, entry level contract with a base salary of $875,000. McDonagh will also receive $425,000 in performance bonuses per year and $87,500 per year in signing bonuses. This total of $512,500 in bonuses puts McDonagh’s cap hit at $1.3 million per season.

Prust re-signs.

The Rangers have got their pest.

Brandon Pust, the sparkplug acquired from Calgary late in the season got his new deal, re-upping for 2 years at a fair price (for both sides) of 800k per year.
This is a good deal. The Rangers bring back a player who had success for them, who skated hard, showed unexpected offensive upside and became a fan favourite quickly. Prust will have different line mates next season with Artem Anisimov likely to have a bigger role and Shelly gone to you know where but Prust will be expected to continue to bring more hustle and heart to the bottom 6.

It also has to be said, Sather continues to have a solid off season if you block out the term on Boogaards deal. Try hard, I do.
So who will Prust play with? Personally a line including Dale Weise sounds appealing. Size, some ability and hustle would make it a solid 4th line.

Marc Staal next please Mr Sather.

Free Agency, Day Two

Just because July 1 has come and gone, doesn’t mean that free agency is over. Ilya Kovalchuk is still out there, as is Matt Lombardi, Lee Stempniak, and a few other mid-tier players. One guy that was taken off the UFA list today was Pavel Kubina, who signed a two-year deal with TB for $7.7 million ($4.2 million and $3.5 million). I’ll update this post throughout the day with signings that take place. Let’s hope the Rangers avoid any big(ger) contracts.

Also, ex-Ranger Jason Strudwick signed with Edmonton for a one year deal.

Update 1:05pm: After a lunch break, some activity in the NHL. Sheldon Souray was waived by Edmonton. He is due $4.5 million in salary for each of the next two years, but is a $5.4 million cap hit. The Oilers have no intentions of calling him up via re-entry waivers, they want to lose the entire salary.

Also, Chris Higgins has found a home with Florida at $1.6 million for this season.

Update 1:12pm: BREAKING RANGERS NEWS: Rangers are negotiating with the Twitter Fail Whale. Rumors are that the Rangers are looking to sign the whale, to solve scoring woes, to a contract of about $6.5 million per year for 5 years.

Update 2:05pm: Mark Eaton to the Islanders for 2 years, $2.5 million per.

Update 2:30pm: Islanders are busy today, closing in on Milan Jurcina and ex-Ranger P.A. Parenteau. Both are one year deals. Jurcina gets $1 million, Parenteau $600,000.

Update 3:10pm: Wow, the Islanders really are busy. They are closing in on Alex Frolov.

Update 3:50pm: Nothing on Frolov, but the Isles make their 4th signing of the day, inking Zenon Konopka. If you just asked yourself who Zenon Konopka is, you’re not alone.

Update: 4:00pm: Nikolai Kulemin gets his extension with Toronto, two years – $2.35 million. Al Montoya re-upps with Phoenix. Holy first round bust Batman!

Update: 4:30pm: Brandon Prust resigns with the Rangers. Details yet to be announced. 800k per for 2 years. Solid move.

Update: 4:45pm: Matthew Lombardi signs with Nashville for 3 years @ 3.5m per. 2 things here; 3.5m is a fair price and Nashville SPEND money? wow.