New York Rangers and Ryan Spooner Agree to Two-Year Deal
The New York Rangers announced that they have signed RFA Ryan Spooner to a two-year contract.
OFFICIAL: #NYR have agreed to terms with restricted free agent forward Ryan Spooner on a two-year contract. pic.twitter.com/5kgaxJMWz9
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) July 31, 2018
According to Elliotte Friedman, the deal has an AAV of $4 million.
$4M AAV https://t.co/poywvZxJGL
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 31, 2018
Spooner’s last deal saw him make $2,825,000, so this is a decent raise. The No. 45 overall pick from the 2010 NHL draft joined the organization in the Rick Nash trade, and tallied four goals and 12 assists for 16 points in 20 games with the Blueshirts. His overall season saw him post a stat line of 13 goals, 28 assists and 41 points in just 59 games played.
Spooner, 26, would have been an unrestricted free agent had he signed a one-year deal, so it appears that the Rangers may have paid a little more for the security of that second year.
It is somewhat surprising that the post trade deadline roster has remained intact, but it appears that general manager Jeff Gorton wants to get a look at his team under a new head coach.
The fact that the Rangers signed Spooner, Vladislav Namestnikov and Jimmy Vesey each to two-year deals is quite interesting. There is no guarantee, but it could suggest that each is on a tryout of sorts under Quinn with the purpose of the second year of each deal being a form of security toward getting a decent return in the event the team decides to trade them.
With Spooner signed at 2 yrs 4M, #NYR have all of their Restricted Free Agents under contract for the upcoming season.
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 31, 2018
The #NYR now find themselves with roughly $5.7M in cap space. That amount is tentatively based on a roster of 22 players (12F/8D/2G)https://t.co/QZwIPWiV0y pic.twitter.com/toCd4fQK1Y
We will have to see what happens, but for now it appears that the Rangers are done with their summer business. They currently have a 22-man roster and a projected cap space of $5,676,431 per Cap Friendly.