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Barclay Goodrow Officially Signs Six-Year Deal with Rangers

Barclay Goodrow has officially signed a six-year contract with the New York Rangers, and his new deal will carry an annual cap hit of $3.6 million over the life on the deal.

The two-time Stanley Cup Champion’s signing rights were acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning right before the roster freeze ahead of the Expansion Draft, and this extension will keep him on Broadway for the foreseeable future.

The good folks at Evolving-Hockey have Goodrow projected to be worth 2.3 Goals Above Replacement for the 2021-22 season after finishing 2020-21 being worth 2.9 Goals Above Replacement.

Goodrow’s main contributions to the Rangers will be defensive, as he’s tallied just 93 points in 331 games (0.28 P/GP), which is less than ideal given the money he’s being paid. This is not to say there aren’t players you spend money on for strictly defensive purposes, but Goodrow isn’t the one I’d have picked based on how he’s expected to contribute over the next few years.

Goodrow as a player can be valuable to the Rangers, but they made the mistake of overpaying for depth. It is possible that Chris Drury was trying to make other trades, but there were other short-term options to be had via free agency that would have improved the team, and left flexibility in the event something else came along.

An alternative that could have been considered is Mathieu Perreault, a 33-year-old forward that plays left wing and center who was worth 7.2 Goals Above Replacement this season in 56 games with the Winnipeg Jets. He is projected to be worth 2.5 Goals Above Replacement during the 2021-22 season according to Evolving-Hockey. Over 683 games Perreault has averaged 0.50 P/GP, so in addition to defense he’d be able to add some offense, with the key work being some as his production has dipped down in recent years.

With that said, his expected contract was only a two-year deal at $1.84 million, and while Perreault isn’t the player he once was this would have represented an upgrade over Brett Howden that gave the team some additional flexibility.

There’s also Derek Ryan who played for the Calgary Flames this past season. He was worth 7.1 Goals Above Replacement this season in 43 games, and is expected to be worth 2.8 Goals Above Replacement in 2021-22. He’s a solid defensive player that can also generate offense at even strength, and Ryan’s averaged 0.43 points per game through 345 games to date. That production has dipped over recent years, but he’s remained solid defensively as he was worth 3.4 Goals Above Replacement for defense alone.

He’s also solid possession player who has a career win rate of 55.4% at the faceoff dot, having won 1,933 of 3,488 career faceoffs. His expected contract from Evolving-Hockey is $1.979M for two years.

These are just two options the Rangers could have considered, and although Evolving-Hockey’s contracts are just projections, neither would have gotten the term or salary that Goodrow did.

It is unknown what capacity Goodrow will be deployed in, as the Rangers’ newest signing can play all three forward positions. Odds are he will be used at center as he owns a career faceoff percentage of 52%, having won 1,021 of the 1,965 draws he’s taken. He took fewer faceoffs with Tampa than he did in his time in San Jose, and there is always the chance he’s used on the wing depending on what other moves the Rangers make.

It remains to be seen what other moves Drury makes, but this one carries a good deal of risk. Goodrow is a pain in the ass the play against, tough as nails, and a tenacious defender. He can help the Rangers in their bottom six, but the ultimate question will be if his contributions will be equal to or exceed the contract he’s been given.

All stats via Evolving-Hockey, HockeyViz.com, or Hockey-Reference unless otherwise noted.

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