The Rangers’ wait continues on Alex Kerfoot’s small “d” decision, with the free-agent center from Harvard “still processing” his options as of late Tuesday, according to one individual familiar with the situation.
But as the Rangers — and Canucks, plus perhaps another finalist in the bidding for the 23-year-old — awaited word, the Blueshirts did make a small “m” move in signing one-time Devils winger Bobby Farnham to a professional tryout, under which he will attend training camp.
The 28-year-old Farnham is an agitator in the Ryan Hollweg mold. He will be trying to earn a contract, let alone secure a spot on the opening-night roster, for an organization that is light on NHL-ready forwards down below and is all but bereft of that ilk from top to bottom.
If Kerfoot does sign with the Rangers, the club would have 49 players under contract, one under the league maximum. There is a possibility they might invite at least one other player to camp on a PTO.
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Farnham, a native of North Andover, Mass., who was undrafted out of Brown in 2012, recorded eight goals and two assists in 50 games for the Devils two years ago following a 14-game cameo with the Penguins.
The 5-foot-10, 190-pounder recorded seven goals in his first 24 games with New Jersey before an incident in St. Louis on Jan. 12, 2016 in which he was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct for what was later deemed by the league’s department of player safety “a violent and predatory [high] hit on defenseless” Dmitrij Jaskin.
Farnham received a four-game suspension for the late hit, on a sequence that began when he was checked hard into the boards by a Blues defenseman by the name of Kevin Shattenkirk. Farnham scored only one goal with one assist in 26 games after returning from the ban.
After signing with Montreal last summer, Farnham spent nearly all year with AHL St. John’s, recording 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) with 137 penalty minutes in 71 games. He went scoreless in three games with the Canadiens, but did engage in his 11th career fight in 67 NHL matches.