On the same day that arbitration hearing dates were set, the Rangers and Braden Schneider came to an agreement, the player signing a one-year deal for a total of $5.5M. The short-term commitment suggests the Rangers remain wary of his future with the team, but perhaps unable to find a deal that would bring back a top six forward, were willing to hold onto him for the moment and avoid what could have been a messy hearing on July 29th.
The deal also does not preclude Rangers GM Chris Drury from making a deal later in the Summer should the opportunity arise, giving any acquiring team some flexibility on a longer term commitment. The contract represents a significant increase over his previous two-year bridge-deal which paid him $2.2M annually, though is probably not far off what he would have been awarded if he’d gone to a hearing.
Most importantly the contract removes the pressure to resolve his future within the next two weeks, giving the team a little more breathing room to evaluate their options. The contract means that Schneider will have one more year as an RFA next Summer assuming he is not extended before that, before becoming a UFA. He’ll also have arbitration rights once more next season.
The move leaves the Rangers with about $2.4 million of Cap space remaining, with only Vincent Iorio and Scott Morrow to resign.
WHERE DOES HE FIT
His value to the Rangers remains uncertain. Projected to be on the third defensive pair going into camp behind Adam Fox and the recently acquired Sean Durzi, Schneider should have an opportunity to rebound from a tough season. He also provides some insurance against injury, with both players ahead of him having missed 20+ games last season. He is also the only 200lb+ defender now on the right.
He’s likely to be paired with Matthew Robertson, who finally made the full-time jump to the NHL last season after spending most of his first four pro seasons in the AHL with Hartford. While this is the plan right now, there’s plenty of time before the season starts for things to change.
Drury likely would still like to get younger up front, where the Rangers are looking at two 34 year old centers by the end of the season in Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller. There’s also significant questions as to whether new pieces Pavel Dorofeyev and Oliver Bjorkstrand will fit in with a team that is largely devoid of play drivers, or whether Alexis Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault can build on their late season success.
MORROW AND IORIO COULD BE LOST ON WAIVERS
If he remains with the team, it raises questions as to what Drury will do with Vincent Iorio and Scott Morrow. Both players are right-handed defensemen with waiver eligibility, and could potentially be claimed should the Rangers attempt to send them to Hartford – especially true in the case of Morrow. The Wolf Pack is already decidedly thin on right-handed defensemen, and losing one or both of these young blue-liners could expose the depth challenges relatively quickly, even with a handful of the blueliners already set to play their off-hand side.
The Rangers could elect to go with a 23-man roster to start the season, keeping both players along with left handed defenseman Urho Vaakanainen up in the NHL, but it does reduce flexibility, especially in the case of short-term injury where Mike Sullivan might be forced to dress eleven forwards and seven defensemen in that scenario.
They could also risk exposing Iorio, who appears less likely to make an impact without some serious adjustments to his game. But while retaining Morrow on the NHL roster would avoid the potential of a waiver claim, it’s hard to see how his game will progress much without more playing time. Ideally he would play down in Hartford or on the third pair in the NHL, but neither option might be readily available should things remain the same.
How this all plays out will be one of the interesting by-lines for the abbreviated training camp this year, but certainly one that bears some attention.
