Per Steve Zipay, the Rangers have signed RFA Andreas Thuresson to a one year deal (two-way contract). Thuresson was acquired a few weeks ago in exchange for Brodie Dupont. Per Capgeek, the contract would have an NHL cap hit of $632,500. His AHL salary will be $105,000.
Per Andrew Gross, the Rangers have re-signed RFA center Brian Boyle to a three year contract. Boyle was set to be a UFA in a year, so the Rangers bought out two UFA years. I’d expect his contract to be in the $1.5-$1.75 million per year range, but it could be slightly higher, considering the length. This is great news for the Rangers, who just have two RFAs left to sign. Of course, those two RFAs are the most important RFAs to sign.
Contract details have not been disclosed yet. We will update as soon as they are made available.
Update: Larry Brooks is reporting that Boyle’s contract is three years at $1.7 million per season, right in line with that I said above. It’s a little off from my original prediction ($1.5 million), but buying out UFA years adds more dollars to the contract. All in all, it’s a solid deal for both Boyle and the Rangers.
Glen Sather has been very busy today. Just minutes after locking up Mike Sauer for two years, the Rangers have locked up Artem Anisimov for two years as well (per Andrew Gross). Terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed, but I’d expect around a $1.85 million cap hit for Anisimov, similar to the Brandon Dubinsky deal for his first RFA years. This was a big signing, considering Anisimov was the only Ranger eligible for offer sheets.
Update: Anisimov’s deal is two years at $1.875 million per year. I believe I hit this one right on the nose.
Per Andrew Gross, the Rangers and RFA defenseman Mike Sauer have agreed to terms on a deal. Sauer was one of four RFAs to file for arbitration just three days ago. This signing avoids an arbitration hearing between the Rangers and Sauer. The deal is worht $2.5 million over two years, or $1.25 million per season. When initially predicting what it would cost to lock up Sauer, we said somewhere between $1.1 million and $1.4 million, so we were right on the money here. Consider this contract a win for both sides, as Sauer gets a 150% increase on his salary, and the Rangers have one of their projected top-four defensemen signed for under $1.5 million.
In a minor move, the CT Whale have re-signed forward Kelsey Tessier. Tessier put together a line of 10-18-28 in his first professional season after four years in the QMJHL, where he was teammates with prospect Ryan Bourque, and the recently signed Jonathan Audy-Marchessault. Terms of the deal are still undisclosed. The press release is after the jump.
General Manager Glen Sather landed his Plan A, signing center Brad Richards. The signing is exactly what the Rangers need; an elite play making center to help jump start Marian Gaborik. The Rangers now have two elite talents on their top line, giving them the primary scoring they so desperately needed to compliment the loads of secondary and tertiary scoring the team already has. There is no denying the talent that Richards brings to the Rangers.
Richards averages a little less than a point per game over his career, roughly 70 points per season. Over the life of the contract, I’d expect Richards to be above that average for a few seasons, at the average for a few seasons, and below the average for a few seasons. That’s why they call it an average. What we can expect is improved scoring and a drastically improved powerplay with Richards on board.
The contract is a little outrageous, a nine year deal worth $58.5 million ($6.5 million cap hit). While the term is a bit longer than most liked, no one can really argue with the dollar figure. Landing Richards at $6.5 million per year is a steal, even if it is for nine years. Nine years was the limit before that “over 40″ clause kicked in, so this deal works out for both sides. It is expected that this deal is incredibly front loaded for Richards to protect against potential roll-backs.
The biggest concern with Richards, aside from the contract, is his one concussion from last season. My view on this has been very well documented: Brad Richards simply does not have a concussion problem, and is not injury prone. Yes, he had a concussion last season. Yes, it can be a cause for concern. But he has only had one concussion his entire career, that does not make him an injury concern. Richards averages over 70 games played per year. I’ll take that any day.
The Rangers landed their man. It’s a good thing too, because I’m pretty sure we were all worried about what Plan B was.
Update: It appears the contract details were a little off. It’s $60 million over nine years, making it an average of $6.7 million per year.
Yesterday’s free agency activity can be summed up in one word: over payment. Time and time again in the live chat we would see someone sign, and then ask ourselves “Wait, he got WHAT?!”. In a market where Ville Leino can get six years and $4.5 million per year, the Rangers showed restraint, and came out victorious in the first day. They bowed out on Jaromir Jagr, they bowed out on Andrew Brunette. In fact, they only signed two players, Ruslan Fedotenko and Mike Rupp.
Neither contract is a cap killing contract. We know what Fedotenko brings to the table, and I’m glad he’s back. As for Rupp, the initial reaction was “wait, he got how many years?”, but the more you look at the signing objectively, the more it makes sense. The Rangers need a bigger body to be physical and play on the fourth line. They also needed someone who can serve a purpose other than just being a big body. Rupp is the guy they wanted, Rupp is the guy the got.
Rupp wins 50% of his face offs, which immediately makes him the best face off guy on the team. Add that to his ability to throw his body around, drop the gloves when necessary, and chip in ten goals a year, and you have yourself a nice little signing. The contract (three years, $1.5 million per) is a bit much, but it doesn’t really hamstring the Rangers.
Glen Sather spent $5.9 million yesterday, a far cry from what most people expected, even without a Brad Richards signing. The signing of both Rupp and Fedotenko may lead to later moves (so long Erik), but they were signings that we either a) wanted (Fedotenko), or b) were necessary (Rupp). For $2.9 million next season, which is almost half of Leino’s salary for ONE season, let’s call yesterday a win.
Via Bob McKenzie, the Rangers have re-signed Ruslan Fedotenko to a one-year deal worth $1.4M. I wasn’t sure if he would be coming back after the Mike Rupp signing, but I like it. Contract seems very fair, if not a little light for Fedotenko given some of the nonsense contracts that were given out today.
The Rangers have agreed to terms with center Mike Rupp. The deal is worth $4.5 million over three years ($1.5 million cap hit). Rupp will likely be a bottom six guy, playing on the fourth line. He wins about 50% of his draws and 50% of his fights. Draws and his ability to take the enforcer duties away from Brandon Prust are the biggest gains for the Rangers with this deal.
Apparently there were 10 teams in on Rupp, which explains the slightly inflated price. He’s not killing the cap, but it’s a bit more money than expected.
Last month, news broke that the Rangers would qualify center John Mitchell, who was acquired at the trade deadline in February for a 2012 7th round draft pick. Today, Mitchell has officially re-signed with the Rangers, giving them depth at the center position in case of injury. Mitchell had 17 points in 24 games after coming over from Toronto, and impressed the front office staff enough to qualify and eventually re-sign him.
Mitchell will likely be a depth player and an AHL guy for the Rangers.
