Rangers Agree to One-Year Extension With Ryan Lindgren

The final bit of business that has been heating on the back burner all summer long for Chris Drury and the New York Rangers surrounded their Restricted Free Agent defenseman Ryan Lindgren. Today, it was announced that the team has settled on a one-year deal at $4.5 million. 

Despite finishing the season within one point of his career best, Lindgren is coming off a bit of a tough year. Injuries absolutely played a role in that seeing as he only skated in 76 games and battled through the postseason with a cracked rib. We all know and love Ryan Lindgren for what he is; A stay at home defenseman who will do anything and everything to sacrifice himself for the betterment of the team. Whether it's blocking shots, taking a big hit to make a play or delivering one, Lindgren is often at the forefront of physically demanding plays that end up taking quite a toll on his body. This is without question a large reason as to why this new contract is only a one-year deal. 

Rangers fans know first hand how players like Lindgren can age as we’ve seen it with Marc Staal, Dan Girardi and a number of others. There’s no question Ryan Lindgren wants to be a New York Ranger as he’s made it known he enjoys being here and as a result, could be open to a hometown discount. The fact that his defense partner is a Norris Trophy winner who doubles as one of his best friends certainly helps that theory. However, Chris Drury and the New York Rangers are in no position to be handing out long term deals given how high the stakes are after another failed quest at Lord Stanley’s Cup. 

This new contract will act as a “prove-it” deal for Ryan Lindgren. Not only does he need to improve from the subpar season he had last year, but he needs to find a way to stay healthy if he wants to give the Rangers a reason to really consider keeping him around long term. It can’t be overstated that if this team falls short again there are going to be major changes coming. This new contract makes it pretty clear that Ryan Lindgren's future with the team will be in jeopardy if that indeed becomes the case.

In terms of what his cap hit means to the bigger picture of the team, Puck Pedia stated that the Rangers will only have a little over $600,000 in cap space if they opt to carry a full roster of 23 skaters. This would amount to roughly $2.8 million in annual cap space accumulated by the trade deadline. Considering that isn’t much, this could suggest that the Rangers may opt to only carry a roster of 22 skaters which is something they haven’t been a stranger to in the past. If Brendan Othmann, or any skater that is waiver exempt makes the team, don’t be surprised to see a surplus of paper transactions throughout the season to try and work the salary cap as best they can. 

All in all, this is a safe play by the Rangers. As much as many fans love Ryan Lindgren from a fan perspective, there is risk to signing him to a long term extension and with where the team is at this stage of things, they clearly aren't ready to take on that kind of risk. Hopefully his highlight reel moments from his offseason in Da Beauty League will carry over beyond this summer and he can prove to be an integral piece to the future of this team past this upcoming season.