The Rangers signed forward Matt Puempel to a one-year, $725,000 contract on Wednesday, meaning they now meet the requirements for players they need to expose in the expansion draft and will avoid any punishment.
Along with Michael Grabner, the Blueshirts needed one more forward to expose who was signed for next season and met certain games-played requirements. Assuming they are going to protect restricted free agent Mika Zibanejad, that meant they had to ink one of their other three restricted free agents in Puempel, Oscar Lindberg or Jesper Fast.
The trio of Puempel, Lindberg and Fast each will be eligible to be picked by the Vegas Golden Knights when the draft takes place on June 21. The most likely Rangers to be taken are Fast, Lindberg, Grabner, defenseman Nick Holden and backup goalie Antti Raanta.
Every team can protect seven forwards, so along with Zibanejad, the Rangers are very likely to protect Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes. After Monday’s deadline passed for the team to ask players to waive their no-move clauses for the sake of being exposed, it is clear the three defensemen they will protect are Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal and Dan Girardi, thus exposing Holden as well as Kevin Klein, who is contemplating retirement.
The Blueshirts brought back some old names to join their front office, hiring former winger Jed Ortmeyer to be Director of Player Development and former defenseman Steve Eminger to be a pro scout. They also added fitness guru Ben Prentiss as a strength and conditioning consultant.
Ortmeyer, 38, was a Rangers winger from 2003-2007, and won the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award twice. According to the team’s press release, “Ortmeyer will work with Rangers prospects who have yet to begin their professional hockey careers, as well as players with the Rangers’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, to further enhance their progression.”
Eminger, 33, played for the Rangers from 2010-2013, and recently retired after winning the Calder Cup with AHL Lake Erie, the Blue Jackets’ minor league affiliate.
Prentiss has worked with NHL players for more than two decades, including the likes of Martin St. Louis, Brad Richards and Kreider. He was also the Director of Hockey Performance for Boston University’s hockey program.