Needless to say, GM John Bates has been VERY active during the off-season. It started with the contradictory hostile offer on David Pastrnak ($12,800,000 X 6 years + $7,800,000 in bonus) which gave a lot of job to the financial department of the Golden Knights. GM Greg basically had to trade half his team to make ends meet. Following that, there was A LOT of trades with multiple teams but especially with GM Brian White of the Minnesota Wild.
Some of those trades were frowned upon by a few GM’s, referring to them as “fleecing”, GM Bates commented on the situation; I personally think the other GM’s are just jealous of my 9000 IQ and will have to vote for me for GM of the year of season 4 as our team will qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the creation of this great league. Here some of the better players that joined the Rangers during the off-season.
The biggest name without a doubt that was acquired is Shea Weber (new Rangers captain). Weber was traded from Edmonton who were in deep trouble with salary cap which gave leverage for the Rangers GM during the negotiations.
The Rangers also acquired Alex Debrincat who was definitely not cheap but is a good investment for the present and future of the organization, Debrincat will be a Rangers for a very long time.
Additionally, New York acquired Kevin Shattenkirk from the Minnesota Wild mostly for futures (picks/prospects) and he will pivot the 1st defensive pair with Weber.
Other names like Dan Girardi, Jared McCann and Marc-Andre Fleury were also added to the roster. Girardi is a good vet that will help the team a lot defensively, McCann will play as the 4th centerman and Fleury will share the net with James Reimer.
Lastly, GM Bates secured Ryan Kesler ($6,900,000 X 4 years) and Justin Braun ($4,600,000 X 4 years) during the Unrestricted Free Agent frenzy. No doubt these 2 veteran will greatly help the Rangers during this anticipated season 4 !
Marc Denis, RDS