The New York Rangers had a disappointing end to the season when they were eliminated by the Boston Bruins in five games in the playoffs, but there is hope for the future, as they locked up defenseman Ryan McDonagh to a long-term extension.
According to ESPN New York, McDonagh signed a six-year extension with the team that is worth $28.2 million and his annual cap hit will be just north of $4.5 million per season. Sources said that the deal has a limited no-trade clause for the final three years and makes McDonagh the fourth highest paid player on the team behind Rick Nash, Henrik Lundqvist and Brad Richards, giving the Rangers and expensive but solid core.
The 24-year-old has proven to be one of the best and most consistent players on the team over the past few years and the team decided to sign him to a big extension rather than give him any chance of leaving as a free agent. The deal takes away his three years unrestricted free agency after 2016 and the fact that the salary cap will be $64.3 million for next season gave the Rangers a chance to make the deal.
The Rangers feel that they are close to making a Stanley Cup run after being the number one seeded team in the East in the year before the lockout and despite losing to the Bruins, management feels that they are right on the edge of the top teams now that they have a new coach. The team has made small moves this offseason apart from firing John Tortorella, as they decided to keep Brad Richards and also hired Alain Vigneault as their new coach. The team now has McDonagh locked up and they also still have to sign Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin, Mats Zuccarello and Justin Falk
McDonagh came to the team in a trade from Montreal and was a total steal, as he is considered a core player for the team along with Marc Staal, Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi. McDonagh has proven to be versatile and had four goals and 19 points in 47 games last season.
