Seven players the Rangers can sign to the ‘Benoit Pouliot Memorial Contract’

The Blueshirts have some holes on their roster that can’t be filled by young guys, but there are guys on the cheap they can get to fill those roles

The rebuild is on, folks. On draft night, the Rangers didn’t make any big splashes, such as trading for Erik Karlsson or Artemi Panarin; they stayed the course, albeit with many different picks than us in the blogging community anticipated. But one fact remains clear: the Rangers are taking the steady, patient approach toward their rebuild. That means, as things stand now, there aren’t going to be any splashy trades, or big free-agent signings. We’re in this thing for the long haul.

But that doesn’t mean the Rangers have to sit out free agency. There are holes on the roster, most notably on the wing and on defense. There are guys every year that can be had for cheap, one-year prove-it contracts. As Rangers fans, we can think of this as the “Benoit Pouliot Memorial Contract.”

For those who don’t remember, Benoit Pouliot was a former first-round pick (fourth overall in 2005) who hadn’t lived up to expectations, bouncing around from team to team (four in five seasons from 2009 to 2012). Prior to the 2013–14 season, the Rangers signed Pouliot to one-year, $1.3 million contract. He responded by having his best season as a professional, notching 15 goals, a (then) career-high 21 points and a career-high 36 points, forming a dynamic “third” line with Mats Zuccarello and Derick Brassard. Pouliot parlayed his fantastic season into a four-year, $20 million contract ($4 million cap hit) with the Edmonton Oilers (who will be mentioned frequently in this blog). More recently, the Rangers inked Michael Grabner to a two-year contract with a $1.65 million cap hit and, after his two great seasons, they were able to get a second-round pick and a good prospect (Yegor Rykov) for him.

You see these types of deals happen every summer, and with the Rangers having over $29 million in cap space, they can afford to take some gambles. This year, like every other, there will be plenty of guys who can be signed to the “Benoit Pouliot Memorial Contract.” You’re probably thinking to yourself: “I wish I knew who some of these guys are.” Well lucky for you, friend, you clicked on the right blog post.

Tobias Rieder

2017–18 stats: 12–13–25, 46.29 CF%, 54.25 CF/60, 2.11 xGF/60, 14:39 ATOI

Rieder was once a fourth-round pick of the Oilers who was eventually traded to the Coyotes, where he spent three-and-a-half seasons before being dealt to the Kings last trade deadline. Rieder is 25-years-old, coming off his second-to-worst season in the NHL, notching just 25 points in 78 games.

One thing Rieder excelled at last year was his ability to exit the zone, as shown by his All-Three-Zone data, courtesy of CJ Turtoro and Corey Sznajder:

He’s essentially Michael Grabner-lite, as he’s a speedy depth forward who kills penalties (1:33 SH TOI/GP with the Coyotes) and can chip in offensively. His last contract had a cap hit of $2.225 million. Matt Cane’s contract prediction model has Rieder getting a two-year deal with a $1.9 million AAV. The Rangers could easily give Rieder a one-year deal with a little bump in AAV to keep money off the books for the stacked free-agent class in the summer of 2019, which is stacked Kardashian, J-Lo, Beyonce style. Given his lackluster season, he could be signed at a cheap price, and could possibly be flipped at the trade deadline for a pick and/or prospect depending on the market.

Nail Yakupov

2017–18 stats: 9–17–16, 48.18 CF%, 51.71 CF/60, 2.84 xGF/60, 10:50 ATOI

It’s crazy to think that Yakupov is JUST 24-years-old. He’s had a tumultuous career since being drafted first-overall by the Oilers in 2012. As with a lot of Oilers draft picks, he never reached expectations with that trash-ass team. His career-high in goals is 17 (his rookie campaign) and his career-high in points is 33. He spent the 2016–17 season with the Blues, notching just nine points in 40 games, and then spent last season with the upstart Avalanche, collecting 16 points in 58 games.

Yakupov isn’t a possession driver and isn’t going to contribute a lot shot-wise, but as his All-Three-Zone data shows, he’s tremendous at gaining the offensive zone:

He was had for dirt cheap last year, making $875,000. The Avalanche didn’t qualify Yakupov, making him a UFA, and Cane’s prediction model has him making just a shade over $1 million on a one-year contract. Yakupov recently parted ways with his agent, leading to speculation that he’ll head to the KHL next season. But given his age and talent, there’s no reason for the Rangers not to take a flier on him, especially if he can be had for a similar price to last season.

Riley Nash

2017–18 stats: 15–26–41, 52.6 CF%, 56.41 CF/60, 2.22 xGF/60, 15:25 ATOI

No, it’s not Rick Nash, the former Ranger who we all thought might come back to Broadway after being dealt to the Bruins at the trade deadline. Instead, it’s the Nash whomst was already on the Bruins: Riley Nash. Nash is a little different from the other names on this list, as he is coming off the best season of his career, notching career-highs across the board. He was a good possession player, killed penalties (1:54 SH TOI/GP, the highest among Bruins forwards) and was phenomenal exiting his own end:

Nash was a former first-round pick of the Oilers, but he never ended up playing with them, instead spending four seasons (technically five, but he only played five games in 2011–12) with the Hurricanes. He was arguably (of course not by me, because, well, you know why) one of the biggest bargains in the NHL last season, as he only made $900,000. The Bruins were obviously one of the best teams in the NHL last season because of their depth, and Nash was a huge part of that. Nash is going to meet with Canucks once free agency starts, and he made it pretty clear in that linked piece that he’s not afraid of a rebuild. Price and term will be a concern with Nash— Cane’s model has him penned at a three-year contract with a $2.28 million AAV—but as Adam Herman noted on Twitter, the Rangers can creative and overpay players on one-year deals to entice them to sign. Maybe toss Nash a one-year, $5 million bag to entice him to sign with a rebuilding team, as he’s clearly not scared off by

He also makes sense in terms of lineup fit; the Rangers, as of now, have three centers who should be opening-night locks: Mika Zibanejad; Kevin Hayes (assuming he isn’t traded); and Filip Chytil. If they don’t want Lias Andersson playing fourth-line minutes at center, Nash could be a great option there. If he comes close to last year’s production, Nash can be a big-time trade piece come the deadline.

Brandon Davidson

2017–18 stats: 9–13–22, 50.68 CF%, 55.44 CA/60, 3.09 xGF+/-, 16:49 ATOI

Davidson spent last season with three teams—Canadeins, Oilers and the Islanders—and didn’t receive a qualifying offer from that team from Brooklyn. His last contract was a two-year deal with a $1.425 million cap hit. Davidson isn’t going to generate a lot of shots and won’t put up crazy counting stats, but he’s valuable in other ways. Here’s his All-Three-Zone data, courtesy of CJ Turtoro and Corey Sznajder:

As you can see, his shot contributions, exits and entries aren’t that great, but he his above average in defending entries. Given how easily the Rangers gave up their blue line the last couple seasons, adding Davidson could help in this area. Getting teams to dump the puck in instead of carrying it in is a huge part of today’s game, and Davidson is better than what the Rangers’ currently have in that department. Given his lackluster counting stats, and the fact that he was on three teams last season, he can be had at a cheap price (Cane has him getting a one-year deal with an AAV of $993,970), and could eventually be flipped for a mid-round pick, as he was this season.

Dylan DeMelo

2017–18 stats: 0–20–20, 49.41 CF%, 59.03 CA/60, 4.28 xG+/-, 14:19 ATOI

DeMelo might be my favorite player on this list. He’s another player who doesn’t put up huge counting stats, but given the data and the (admittedly) little I saw him play—I watched between 5–10 Sharks games last year—I think he’s a solid player who can contribute in certain areas. Here’s a look at his All-Three-Zone data:

DeMelo is shit at exits, but he’s dynamite at shot contributions and entries, and has solid entry defense numbers. Kevin Shattenkirk and Neal Pionk are entrenched as the Rangers top-two right-handed defensemen, but it gets murky after them. There’s Tony DeAngelo, who is running out of chances to prove himself as an NHL player. There’s also former Alain Vigneault top-pairing defenseman Steven Kampfer. While he’s probably a great fella, Kampfer is simply not an NHL defenseman, and is best suited to be a depth piece or an AHL-filler moving forward. The Sharks decided not to give DeMelo a qualifying offer, meaning he’ll be an unrestricted free agent. According to Cane’s model, DeMelo should command a two-year contract with a $1.2 AAV. Personally, I think DeMelo can be an absolute boon for the Rangers, especially if they decide to cut bait with DeAngelo.

Patrick Wiercioch

Career stats: 16–58–74, 51.65 CF%, 54.86 CA/60, -.87 xG+/-, 16:48 ATOI

Surprisingly, Wiercioch didn’t play in the NHL at all last season. The Canucks signed him to the minimum, but he spent the whole season in Utica. He’s been a solid possession player in his career, is an analytics darling and can be a useful power-play player. He’s got solid shot suppression numbers as well. The Rangers are going to need some help on the left side, as Brady Skjei and Marc Staal are the only two locks to start the season there (John Gilmour and Libor Hajek are expected to push for the third spot, but who knows how they look in training camp/in a new system). There’s zero risk in signing Wiercioch, and given the state of the Rangers’ defense, he can possibly see decent time on the back end.

Thomas Hickey

2017–18 stats: 5–20–25, 47.74 CF%, 62.6 CA/60, -3.88 xG+/-, 18:04 ATOI

Another friend from our friends from Brooklyn/Long Island/Queens/Kansas City (ok, my bad on that one). Thomas Hickey’s had between 18–25 points each of the past five seasons. His shot suppression numbers sucked last season, but to be fair, the Islanders were one of the worst defensive teams in the league (their 61.89 CA/60 was third-worst in the NHL.

But despite his underwhelming underlying numbers, Hickey does have some positives to his game, as shown by his All-Three-Zone data (if you can’t tell, I reallllllllllly like these types of stats):

Hickey’s solid at shot contributions, and he’s above average at entries. He’s poor at exits and defending his own blue line, but again, that might be attributed to the style the Islanders played.

Hickey killed penalties last season (2:06 SH TOI/GP, fifth most among Islanders defenseman, as they tried out a bunch there) but the Islanders were the worst penalty killing team in the NHL. Hickey’s last contract was a three-year deal with a $2.2 million cap hit. Hickey was the person Mr. Herman alluded to in his tweet, and I have to agree with him; he’s a guy worth overpaying on a one-year deal. He’d be a fine player to have on a third pair behind Brady Skjei and Marc Staal if the Rangers don’t think Libor Hajek is ready for the show.

So there you have it folks: seven candidates for the “Benoit Pouliot Memorial Contract.” Given the way most of my blogs go, I’m sure none of these guys will be signed, but their all interesting options who can be had for dirt cheap. As I’ve—and many others—have been saying since the trade deadline, Jeff Gorton has given himself so many options with this team. He can decide to let the young guys fill out roster spots, or he can go find some of these dudes plug in some holes.

*All contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.com, and all stats courtesy of Corsica.Hockey, HockeyReference.com and NHL.com*