Kevin Shattenkirk is heading to his home state as the New Rochelle, N.Y., native has signed with the New York Rangers.
It’s a four-year deal, as first reported by Kevin Weekes, and according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports it comes with an annual salary cap of $6.65 million.
Shattenkirk was the consensus best player available once free agency opened at noon ET. The top-pair, right-shot blueliner was reportedly receiving heavy interest from a handful of teams, including the Lightning, Devils and Sabres.
The 28-year-old is considered among the most talented offensive-minded defencemen in the NHL. He had 56 points in 80 games split between the St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals this past season.
The Rangers are Shattenkirk’s fourth team in his seven-year NHL career. He began his career with the Colorado Avalanche, the team that drafted him 14th overall in 2007, but he was dealt to the Blues midway through his rookie campaign. The Blues sent him to the Capitals prior to this year’s trade deadline.
In 490 career games he has 298 points, 111 of which came on the power play.
Shattenkirk joins a Rangers defence corps that currently takes up more than $27 million in cap space. Earlier this week the Rangers signed Brendan Smith to a four-year deal, less than two weeks after buying out Dan Girardi.
The Rangers also signed goalie Ondrej Pavelec on Saturday.
July 1, 2017
New York Rangers
