The final must-do item on the Rangers' offseason agenda is complete.
They crossed it off Tuesday by inking restricted free agent Ryan Lindgren to a one-year, $4.5 million contract, with details first reported by Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. The 26-year-old defenseman was scheduled for an arbitration hearing Friday, but the two sides found agreeable terms with roughly 72 hours to spare.
The Rangers were willing to go well above Lindgren's $3.6 million qualifying offer in order to keep the deal short, prioritizing flexibility for next summer − when young, core players such as Alexis Lafrenière, K'Andre Miller and Igor Shesterkin will be due for expensive new contracts − over a slightly lesser average annual value that likely would have resulted from offering more years. It casts doubt about whether Lindgren will stick in New York beyond this coming season, but a one-year Band-Aid was the prudent decision given the expected 2025-26 salary cap crunch.
That leaves the 2024-25 Blueshirts with around $1.4 million in available cap space, which is the number they're now projected to enter the new season with. That would put them on pace to accrue over $6 million to shop with by the time the late-winter trade deadline arrives.
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The roster appears to be essentially set until then. Of course, a trade is still possible, but the odds of anything significant happening this summer seemingly decrease by the day.
Lindgren followed the signing of fellow RFA Braden Schneider, who agreed to a two-year, $4.4 million deal on July 13, and rounds out the D corps. Those two are expected to join a returning group that includes Adam Fox, Zac Jones, K'Andre Miller and captain Jacob Trouba, with veteran Chad Ruhwedel the early favorite for the seventh defenseman job after agreeing to a one-year, $775,000 contract earlier this month.
Lindgren has been a staple in the Rangers' lineup since 2019, spending much of the past five seasons paired with close friend and fellow U.S National Team Development Program product Fox. The inseparable duo is coming off a down year, with their collective 46.39% xGF representing their worst mark in any single season, according to Natural Stat Trick. Lindgren's individual results were even worse, with the Burnsville, Minnesota, native posting a career-low 45.09% xGF.
Those struggles were exacerbated in the playoffs, where Lindgren's 34.82% xGF ranked last among Blueshirts' defensem*n. He spent many of those postseason shifts pinned in his own zone, later revealing that he was dealing with a cracked rib throughout a disappointing the Eastern Conference Final against the Florida Panthers. And while he brushed the injury aside as a non-factor, it's hard to believe it didn't negatively affect his play.
"For the most part, I feel pretty good," he said at breakup day on June 4. "A little rest is going to be good. But everyone's battling through something and a little banged up. ... It was just dealing with the pain."
The 6-foot, 193-pounder is constantly banged up due to his fearless, physical style. He's as tough as they come and routinely plays through pain, which has endeared him to teammates and made him the fans' choice as the 2022-23 Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award winner. But it also may have made the Rangers hesitant to add extra years on his latest contract.
There is concern about Lindgren's body breaking down over time, and while he's believed to have been interested in a long-term deal − "This is home now," he told lohud.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, in February − the Blueshirts preferred a shorter commitment.
Still, they clearly value his grit and defensive prowess enough to keep him in a top-four role on a team with championship aspirations.
Even with Lindgren's underwhelming metrics and limited offensive contributions (he's never registered more than 18 points in a season), the Rangers consistently outscore their opponents while he's on the ice. That trend continued last season with a 56.14% goal share at five-on-five and team-best plus-22 rating.
That, coupled with his strong work on one of the NHL's best penalty kills and longstanding chemistry with Fox, bolstered his case to stick around. And if the decision is ultimately made to pursue an upgrade, the one-year deal will provide a clean slate for both sides once Lindgren hits unrestricted free agency next summer.
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work atlohud.com/sports/rangers/and follow him on Twitter@vzmercogliano.
