The Rangers found a low-risk way to help alleviate their need for a center, signing 30-year-old pivot David Desharnais to a one-year, $1 million deal Tuesday.
Desharnais made his name with handful of productive years with the Canadiens, the peak being a 16-goal, 60-point campaign in 2011-12. But he struggled last season and was traded to the Oilers.
The assumption would be the left-handed Desharnais slides into the role of the fourth-line center after the player who held that role last season, Oscar Lindberg, who was taken by Vegas in the expansion draft, signed a two-year, $3.4 million deal with the club on Tuesday.
Following the trade of top center Derek Stepan at the NHL draft two weeks ago, the Blueshirts were left with Kevin Hayes and Mika Zibanejad as returning centers — and that is with Zibanejad still being a restricted free agent and needing a new contract.
General manager Jeff Gorton said the negotiation with Zibanejad might last a little into the summer after seeing how the free-agent market shakes out.