Broadway Bits: July 15th New York Rangers Update

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In the past week,  NY Rangers’ General Manager, Jeff Gorton was very busy.

He reached an agreement with goalie, Magnus Hellberg who will compete with Mackenzie Skapski at Hartford this upcoming season and signed forward, Marek Hrivik who had a very good year for the Wolf Pack.

Hrivik is a 6-2, 200-pound forward who played in 72 games last season for Hartford, in which he scored 12 goals and added 21 assists for a total of 33 points. He also added three goals and six assists for nine points in 15 playoff games.

Hellberg, a 200 pound, towering 6-6 goaltender, appeared in 98 career AHL games and posts a 42-36-7 record. His GAA is 2.36 and his SV% is .917. He has also pitched 10 shutouts in those 42 wins.

Jeff Gorton also signed newly acquired Forward Emerson Etem to a one year qualifying offer of $800,500.00. Etem came to the Rangers in the trade that sent Carl Hagelin to the Anaheim Ducks.

Etem, 23, stands 6-1 and weighs in at 212 pounds, and does have some speed in his skating. In 112 NHL games for Anaheim, he has 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points. That goes along with a plus 4 rating and 17 penalty minutes.

The other signing, was that of Oscar Lindberg, who was already a member of the Hartford Wolf Pack. The 6-1 195 Center has been signed to a 2 year deal worth $650,000.00 per year. Oscar is just 23 years old and played in 72 games last season for Hartford, in which he scored 28 goals and registered 28 assists for a total of 58 points. He then added three goals and 13 assists for another 16 points in 15 playoff games for the Wolf Pack.

These signings are added to those of Defenseman Raphael Diaz for $700,000.00 and backup Goalie Antti Raanta for the same amount.

The Rangers also re-signed former first round draft choice, D-man Dylan McIlrath to a one year, one way contract worth $600,000.00

This leaves GM Gorton just about $9 million to resign Derek Stepan, Jesper Fast, JT Miller and Dylan McIlrath; which would complete the roster.

Now, Gorton can also look to move a few players via trades; mostly Tanner Glass and Kevin Klein come to mind, as these two names are forever bandied about on social media.  I can see Jeff trading both away if he could, as it would clear up about $4.5 million of cap space and also open up a spot for either Brady Skjei or Dylan McIlrath on Defense and probably Viktor Stalberg on a line.

I will keep everyone posted as the summer rolls along towards Traverse City Prospect Tournament, then Training Camp and the start of the 2015-16 NHL season.