Rangers Sign Casey Fitzgerald, Benoit-Olivier Groulx
The Rangers have added some NHL-experienced depth on cheap deals. Defenseman Casey Fitzgerald is joining on a two-year contract, while forward Benoit-Olivier Groulx is heading to New York on a one-year pact after being non-tendered by the Ducks, per a team announcement. Fitzgerald’s is a two-way deal in 2024-25 before converting to a one-way deal in 2025-26, while Groulx’s is a two-way deal, Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports.
Fitzgerald, 27, is coming off a one-year, two-way deal with the Panthers that saw him buried in the minors for the entire season for the first time since 2020-21. He played in 69 games on assignment to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, notching four goals and 17 assists for 21 points with a +22 rating and 65 PIMs.
The son of Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald has played 148 career AHL games across five seasons in the Panthers and Sabres organizations, recording 55 points (13 goals, 42 assists). He has also skated in 63 NHL games in Buffalo and Florida in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns, collecting nine assists and a -21 rating. He’s still on the hunt for his first major league goal. He was originally a third-round pick of the Sabres in 2016.
The physical right-shot blue liner is expected to start the season on assignment to AHL Hartford but will be an outside candidate to land a spot on the NHL roster out of camp as an extra defenseman. His main competition for the role as it stands will be Connor Mackey. Either way, there’s an increased opportunity for the Rangers’ depth defenders to find NHL minutes next season with Erik Gustafsson and Chad Ruhwedel hitting free agency.
Groulx, 24, was a second-round pick of the Ducks back in 2018 but hit the open market early after a disappointing 2023-24 campaign, recording only two assists and a -9 rating in 45 games for Anaheim while averaging 12:11 per game. He’s scored only once in 65 NHL games dating back to his debut in 2021-22. He can play both left wing and center but has struggled in the faceoff dot at the NHL level, winning 44.4% of his draws.
His possession impacts in Anaheim have been quite poor, too, but he could carry some value as a cheap energy winger, especially for what’s likely a league-minimum cap hit. He finished seventh on the Ducks in hits (101) last season and has good size at 6’2″ and nearly 200 lbs. He’ll enter camp competing with UFA addition Sam Carrick and familiar faces Jonny Brodzinski, Adam Edstrom and Matt Rempe for a fourth-line/extra forward role.
Rangers Acquire Reilly Smith From Penguins
The Rangers are expected to acquire winger Reilly Smith in a trade with the Penguins, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Pittsburgh is receiving a second-round pick and a fifth-round pick in return, The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman reports. The teams confirmed the second-rounder is in 2027 and the fifth-rounder is a conditional 2025 selection. The Penguins are retaining 25% of Smith’s salary, bringing his cap hit down from $5MM to $3.75MM for New York. The conditional 2025 fifth-rounder will be the worse of the two picks New York owns in that round – theirs and the Wild’s.
The Penguins are moving on from Smith after just one season, having acquired him in exchange for a 2024 third-round pick during the 2023 NHL Draft. Smith went on to total 13 goals and 40 points, failing to translate his strong scoring upside to a shakier role with the Penguins. He was much more robust in Vegas; one of many players to see a breakout year in Vegas’ inaugural season, scoring 22 goals and 60 points in 67 games and adding 22 points in 20 postseason games. He held onto the scoring through his next five years with the Golden Knights, consistently rivaling 50-point pace and even twice topping 25 goals.
Smith has developed into a capable middle-six scorer, whose offense held up even amidst an inconsistent role in Pittsburgh. What’s better, he’s an unrestricted free agent next summer, giving the Rangers a chance to test out his roster fit before committing to him long-term. The Rangers have rotated through veteran scorers over the last few seasons, cycling in players like Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Blake Wheeler. Smith will be the latest iteration, set for the same role in the lineup as his predecessors.
But unlike those before him, Smith offers the perk of playoff consistency, having totaled 26 goals and 79 points across 106 postseason appearances, including 14 points in 22 games during Vegas’ 2023 Stanley Cup run. The Rangers have boasted some of the best offenses in the league over the last few seasons, only to fall short in the Eastern Conference Finals in both 2022 and 2024. A lack of goal-scoring depth has proven the fault both times, forcing New York to lean on, and quickly tire out, their stars.
Smith could also provide a good shot to match Alexis Lafreniere‘s quick playmaking, with the pair likely bound for New York’s second line. Lafreniere was among the most polarizing Rangers late in the season, scoring eight goals and 14 points in 16 playoff games after netting a career-high 28 goals and 57 points in the regular season. Veteran additions like Smith could point towards New York’s investment in yet another young star, though that will ultimately sit with how Peter Laviolette chooses to deploy his top-six.
Rangers Sign Sam Carrick To Three-Year Deal
The New York Rangers are expected to sign forward Sam Carrick to a three-year, $3MM contract per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (Twitter link). The deal was first reported by St. Louis Blues rinkside reporter Andy Strickland (Twitter link).
Carrick continued to improve his stat line this season – though he wasn’t focused much on scoring. Instead, Carrick recorded 111 penalty minutes in 77 games this season, a career-high in the NHL and the most he’s recorded since the 2014-15 AHL season. 90 of those penalty minutes came in 61 games with the Anaheim Ducks, though Carrick dialed things back a bit after moving to the Edmonton Oilers are the Trade Deadline. He recorded a much more modest 12 penalty minutes in 16 regular-season games with Edmonton, though he added 12 more penalty minutes in 10 postseason games. Between the two teams, Carrick also posted a meager 10 goals and 16 points.
Carrick is certainly not known for his scoring, with his career totals up to 53 points and 316 penalty minutes in 240 games after his eighth season in the NHL. But Carrick makes up for the lack of scoring with grit and intangibles, boasting a dazzling 63.1 faceoff-percentage in his brief stint with Edmonton – bringing his success rate at the faceoff dot up to 50.7 percent across his career. He’s served as a stout, bottom-line centerman with the ability to play penalty-killing minutes, when it’s not his own penalties that are being killed. He’ll offer depth down New York’s depth chart, following the loss of Alexander Wennberg to the open market.
Metro Notes: Trouba, Smith, Jarry
TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that the New York Rangers are willing to retain up to $2.5MM per season if it helps them facilitate a trade for defenseman Jacob Trouba. The Rangers captain has two years remaining with a cap hit of $8MM annually and was reportedly shocked to find his name on the trading block and linked to the Detroit Red Wings.
Trouba’s play has fallen off in recent seasons and while he remains a physical presence on New York’s blueline, his lack of discipline and poor defensive work isn’t justifying his large cap hit. Trouba posted just three goals and 19 assists in 69 games last season and was a -4. While he has never been an analytics darling, Trouba’s CF% cratered last season to 47.2% at even strength.
In other Metropolitan Division notes:
- Josh Yohe of The Athletic is reporting that Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas remains open and willing to trade Reilly Smith but according to sources, the team has been unable to find a dance partner. Smith never settled into Pittsburgh after coming over in a trade from the Vegas Golden Knights for a third-round pick but did have a better second half of the season finishing with 13 goals and 27 assists in 76 games. Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas told the media on Friday that he hoped to collect draft picks and prospects this summer while maintaining a competitive NHL roster, but if that is the ask for Smith it’s difficult to see a team stepping up with that kind of offer until after free agent options have dried up.
- Josh Yohe of The Athletic also spoke about Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry saying that Pittsburgh was willing to move the 29-year-old but weren’t able to find any interested parties. Jarry has four years left on his contract with a cap hit of $5.375MM and has struggled with consistency throughout his career, fading in the second half of several seasons in a row. A number of goaltenders have moved in recent days, but with Jarry’s spotty record and large financial commitment, it’s hard to imagine a team stepping up unless Pittsburgh is willing to retain a large portion of salary to facilitate a deal.
NHL Announces 2023-24 All-Star Teams
The NHL announced their annual season-ending All-Star teams as part of last night’s award festivities. The rosters, as voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, are as follows.
First All-Star Team
LW: Artemi Panarin (Rangers)
C: Nathan MacKinnon (Avalanche)
RW: Nikita Kucherov (Lightning)
D: Quinn Hughes (Canucks)
D: Roman Josi (Predators)
G: Connor Hellebuyck (Jets)
Second All-Star Team
LW: Filip Forsberg (Predators)
C: Connor McDavid (Oilers)
RW: David Pastrňák (Bruins)
D: Adam Fox (Rangers)
D: Cale Makar (Avalanche)
G: Thatcher Demko (Canucks)
The First Team nod caps off quite a successful 24 hours for MacKinnon, who also swept both media-voted and player-voted MVP honors with the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. It’s his third All-Star nod, although his two prior ones were both Second Team honors in 2018 and 2020. The 28-year-old pivot led the Avs in scoring with 51 goals and 140 points this season and recorded a league-high 405 shots on goal.
Notably, the voting ledger (available in the league’s announcement) indicates Kucherov was the unanimous First Team selection at right wing. That’s the first time that’s happened since 2002, when the Flames’ Jarome Iginla was the across-the-board pick after also winning the Richard and Art Ross trophies. Like Iginla, Kucherov was crowned this year’s Art Ross winner after recording 144 points in 81 games. He tied with McDavid for a league-leading 100 assists, becoming the first winger in NHL history to hit the mark.
Absent from either team is Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews, whose 69 goals this season were the most of anyone since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96. He also fell short of being a Hart Trophy finalist behind Kucherov, MacKinnon and McDavid. He was third in All-Star voting among centers, though, and did receive nine First Team and 55 Second Team votes out of 187 ballots. The only other center to receive consideration was the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, who only appeared on four ballots.
Rangers Hire Grant Potulny As AHL Head Coach
The Rangers have named Grant Potulny as the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, a team release states. Until recently, he’d held the same role with Northern Michigan University.
Potulny, 44, never played in the NHL but was a fifth-round pick of the Senators in 2000 and had a brief AHL career in the aughts. After retiring in 2009, he became an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota, which he captained to a national championship in 2003. He remained there through 2017 before taking the head job at Northern Michigan, where he’s been since.
In his first season behind the NMU bench, Potulny coached the Wildcats to a 25-win season, their most since 2001-02. He was recognized as the WCHA’s Coach of the Year for his efforts, but he hasn’t received any other honors in the six years since. Potulny has still had a decent recent run of success with the historically overlooked school, advancing to the CCHA tournament final in 2021 and 2023.
Potulny also has some experience with the United States U-20 national team, serving as an assistant at the World Juniors on four occasions. He was part of gold medal-winning squads in 2013 and 2017.
He takes over as Hartford’s full-time coach after Kris Knoblauch left the organization to accept the head coach position with the Oilers in November, eventually leading them to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. Longtime NHL and AHL assistant Steve Smith took over as interim the rest of the way, but the Rangers didn’t say today whether he’d be returning to the Wolf Pack bench.
Latest On Jacob Trouba
Rangers captain Jacob Trouba has been the subject of trade speculation ever since their season ended in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final. It seems internal discussions around trading him have gained a fair amount of credibility, as Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports that the team has asked Trouba’s representation for the 15 teams on his no-trade list, which kicks in on July 1 after having a full no-move clause for the past four seasons.
Staple and The Athletic’s Peter Baugh wrote Tuesday that “there’s no indication as of yet that the Rangers are entertaining a Trouba move,” so his report today is the first credible sign that general manager Chris Drury is considering it. No specific teams have yet been linked to the Blueshirts in Trouba trade talks.
Moving out Trouba, who has two seasons remaining at an $8MM cap hit, would open up a significant amount of cap space for Drury to make a big splash in this summer’s free-agent market. New York has been linked to Jake Guentzel, the top left winger available, in recent days after previously pursuing him at this season’s trade deadline.
Coming off arguably his worst season as a Ranger, Trouba likely won’t have much trade value, especially if the Rangers aren’t retaining any salary. The 30-year-old had three goals, 19 assists and 22 points with a -4 rating in 69 games, missing a significant chunk of games near the end of the regular season with an ankle injury.
In the playoffs, he saw his ice time dip to 20:59 per game from 21:15 in the regular season and had a decent offensive showing with a goal and six assists in 16 appearances. His usual pairing with K’Andre Miller struggled to control play at even strength in the postseason, posting an xGF% of 41.5 in 92 minutes together, per MoneyPuck. However, he fared much better in third-pairing usage alongside pending UFA Erik Gustafsson.
He may be their captain, but $8MM is a large chunk of change for someone past his 30th birthday set to potentially begin next season back in a bottom-pairing role with youngster Braden Schneider challenging for his spot in the top four. He’s become expendable, especially considering Schneider needs a new deal as an RFA this summer. Adding depth scoring will also be a priority for Drury, as is freeing up future cap space for an Igor Shesterkin extension. The perennial Vezina candidate will be in line for a mega-deal next summer as he enters his final season under contract at a $5.67MM cap hit.
Rangers’ Glen Sather Announces Retirement
The New York Rangers have announced that after six decades in hockey, senior advisor to the owner and alternate governor Glen Sather has announced his retirement from professional hockey. Sather joined the Rangers 24 years ago and held several positions in the organization including president and general manager when he was first hired by the Rangers in June of 2000. Sather ended his run as Rangers general manager in July 2015 and at the time he finished with an NHL record 2700 regular season games and career regular season wins with 1319. He remained Rangers president until 2019.
Sather’s run in New York never resulted in a Stanley Cup, but he is the winningest general manager in franchise history and was the architect of a very successful decade-long run that saw the Rangers make the playoffs in 11 of 12 seasons and win a playoff series in five of six seasons. The Rangers also won the President’s Trophy in Sather’s final season as general manager, finishing the year with 113 points and 53 wins.
Sather was a five-time Stanley Cup champion with the Edmonton Oilers and was also the head coach for four of those five title wins, joining Punch Imlach as one of only two people in hockey history to win at least four Stanley Cups as both a coach and general manager. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997 but continued to work.
Along with his incredible NHL resume, Sather also led Team Canada to a pile of success internationally guiding teams to a Canada Cup Championship in 1994, as well as the World Hockey Championship in the same year.
Sather will long be remembered for the Oilers dynasty of the 1980s, however, the 1990s were a different time in which the Oilers didn’t have the financial means to compete with many of the NHL’s big spenders. Sather may have done some of his best work during this time, keeping Edmonton competitive as the team struggled to retain their top players in Edmonton due to financial constraints.
PHR wishes Sather and his family all the best in retirement and congratulations on having one of the most incredible careers in hockey history.
Rangers Looking To Move Up In The Draft
By virtue of winning the Presidents’ Trophy and falling in the Eastern Conference Final, the Rangers will be waiting a while to make their first selection in the opening round of the draft on Friday as they hold the 30th overall selection. However, it appears they’re looking to make a selection earlier than that as Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that GM Chris Drury is looking to package that pick along with winger Kaapo Kakko to move up in the draft order.
Earlier this month, Kakko accepted what would have been his qualifying offer this weekend, inking a one-year, $2.4MM agreement. But if anything, instead of the contract quashing any trade speculation, it has had the opposite effect as many have suggested that the new deal actually helps his trade value as now teams have certainty as to what the 23-year-old will cost.
Kakko was the second-overall pick back in 2019 after a very strong season in Finland’s top league and it looked like New York had a future core winger on their hands with the potential for more. However, while there have been signs of that potential over his first five NHL seasons, he hasn’t been able to show it consistently.
In 2022-23, Kakko had what looked like a possible breakout campaign, notching 18 goals and 22 assists. Those numbers don’t jump off the page for a fourth-year player but they were career bests and both sides were hoping he’d be able to build off that. But it didn’t happen. Instead, Kakko struggled this year, notching 13 goals and six assists in 61 games while seeing his playing time dip to a career-low 13:17 per night. It went even lower in the playoffs as he was just over a dozen minutes per game while recording just one goal and one assist in 15 appearances.
On the one hand, you have Kakko’s recent performance which wasn’t the greatest. On the other hand, here’s a still-young player who other teams might feel that a new team and system could help get him back on track. The Rangers will clearly be hoping that particular perception will help them move up the draft board on Friday.
Alexis Lafrenière Not Likely To Negotiate Extension This Summer
Vincent Z. Mercogliano of USA Today writes that he doesn’t expect the New York Rangers and young forward Alexis Lafrenière will engage in contract extension talks this summer when the 22-year-old becomes eligible. Lafrenière is entering the second and final year of an extension that will pay him just $2.325MM next season and is reportedly content with playing out the deal and negotiating an extension next summer when he will have arbitration rights. The Rangers are facing a major cap crunch this summer and could be in more trouble next July when a potential Igor Shesterkin extension will kick in.
A former first-overall pick in 2020, Lafrenière looked like a potential bust early in his career, producing modest offensive success in New York. However, his offensive production has improved in each season of his career, producing career highs last year in goals (28), assists (29), points (57), and games (82) played.
It’s unclear if the Rangers want to lock up Lafrenière long-term but it would make sense if they did, given that another improvement in his offensive production will surely push the AAV on his next contract up dramatically. Lafrenière is not just an offensive player but is willing to get involved physically and has no issues with getting to the high-danger areas and being difficult to play against.
If he takes another big step next season, there is no way to tell what a long-term extension could look like for St-Eustache, Quebec native, or what kind of salary cap gymnastics the Rangers would need to play to fit him under the salary cap.