When he was placed on waivers today, it was clear that the Rangers had agreed to terms on an NHL deal with defenseman Mason Geertsen. The terms of that agreement are now known as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the blueliner has inked a two-year contract that breaks down as follows:
2020-21: $700K NHL salary, $100K AHL salary
2021-22: $750K NHL salary, $110K AHL salary
The 25-year-old was a fourth-round pick (93rd overall) of Colorado back in 2013 and spent four seasons in their minor league system, splitting time between the AHL and ECHL before being non-tendered in 2018. That led him to the Rangers where he played on a minor league contract for the past year and a half until today’s conversion to an NHL contract.
Geertsen isn’t going to be counted to provide much offense for AHL Hartford (assuming he clears waivers as expected tomorrow) as his career-high in goals in a single season at that level is just three. He’s more of a stay-at-home, physical blueliner which makes it interesting that the Rangers opted to use an NHL contract on him at this time as players like that don’t typically get NHL deals at this stage of their careers. He becomes the 45th player signed out of a maximum of 50 so GM Jeff Gorton still has some flexibility on the contract limit to work with which is notable with college free agency on the horizon.
A huge fan favorite in Hartford! Great for him