Rangers Sign Brandon Scanlin to Two-Year Extension
Trade deadline aside, Chris Drury and the Rangers management group have lots of business to take care of as the season continues to progress. With quite a few noteworthy players set to become restricted free agents at the end of the season, discussions of contract extensions are certainly looming in the background. Per the Rangers official PR account, they’ve seemingly begun that process as they’ve put pen to paper on one deal with defenseman Brandon Scanlin.
Through 43 games in Hartford this season, Brandon Scanlin has put up a total of 14 points split evenly between goals and assists. As pointed out by Alex Thomas, Hartford’s play-by-play voice and noted great guy from my alma mater Springfield College, Scanlin has not only set career-high’s in goals, but has contributed to a large part of Hartford’s success this season in keeping the puck out of their own net.
Journeyman is a term we’re seeing thrown around a lot lately with Jonny Brodzinski’s road to becoming a full-time NHLer after years in the minors. Brandon Scanlin could very well be one in the making seeing as he’s had quite the untraditional road to earning his keep with the AHL in Hartford. Scanlin was an undrafted defenseman that originally came out of the Greater Ontario Hockey League before moving over to the Alberta Junior league, spending two seasons with the Brooks Bandits. From there, he crossed the border to spend four years playing for the University of Nebraska-Omaha which would earn him a look with the Wolf Pack at the end of his senior year.
In 15 games, Scanlin only picked up an assist but it was enough to keep him around for the next couple of seasons as he signed an entry-level contract in March of 2022. The following year, he would put up 4 goals and 11 assists as he became quite the regular, appearing in 61 games. After filing for arbitration in the summer, the organization worked out another one-year deal with him, which has now earned him the two-year extension at the same average annual value of $775,000. At 24, there’s still plenty of room for Scanlin to grow in Hartford. While a lot of things would likely need to go wrong for the Rangers in order for him to get a cup of coffee with them, it’s nice to see Hartford rewarding their guys that have helped them build the strong team they’ve become in the AHL the last couple of years.
With 17 other pending free agents both restricted and unrestricted, could this be the first of several extensions that get finalized? Time will certainly tell as we grow closer and closer to the trade deadline and the end of regular season play.
