Rangers Sign Ryan Lindgren to Entry-Level Deal
And with that Ryan Lindgren is a New York Ranger. The defenseman, who played his entire collegiate career with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, has agreed to terms on his entry level deal.
OFFICIAL: #NYR have agreed to terms with defenseman Ryan Lindgren on an entry-level contract.
Lindgren, 20, served as one of the University of Minnesota’s alternate captains this season while playing in 35 games with the Gophers. https://t.co/8EOZ55UFOw
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 22, 2018
Lindgren, 20, was a former second round pick of the Boston Bruins in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. During his collegiate career Lindgren scored three goals and added 13 assists for 16 points in 67 games. Now, those numbers aren’t eye popping by any means, but it’s the intangibles that make him a good prospect for the team going forward.
Lindgren has been a leader at every stage of his career. In his younger days when he played for the US National Team Development Program (NTDP), on both their U17 and U18 teams, he wore the Captain‘s “C.” No matter what stage of hockey a player is at, it is an absolute honor and privilege to wear the “C” and Lindgren had that respect from his coaches and teammates from a young age. Moving onto the his college days, Lindgren wore an “A,” during his last season with the Golden Gophers. As he’s moved up the ranks he’s still earned the respect and admiration of his teammates.
Character guys like that are great to have within an NHL organization.
Another one of Lindgren’s intangibles is the fact that this kid loves to use his body. He doesn’t back away from a check and seems to relish those chances when he can lay down a big hit. The Rangers have a lot of great young puck moving defensemen, but Lindgren seems to be a stay-at-home type guy who won’t have an issue being that guy in a defense pairing who will be rock solid on the defensive end while his partner wheels and deals.
The Rangers released a tweet regarding Lindgren after his signing:
Lindgren was an Honorable Mention for the Big Ten All-Star Team in each of his two seasons at the University of Minnesota. He served as captain of Team USA at the 2016 IIHF World U18 Championship and won a gold medal at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship. #NYR
— NY Rangers PR (@NYR_PR) March 22, 2018
Stephen Valiquette, former NYR goaltender and MSG analyst had this to say:
Rangers just signed Defensman Ryan Lindgren (acquired in Rick Nash trade). Great news!! I’ve heard nothing, but great things about his character from the NHL scouts I’ve spoken to. Terrific!!
— Stephen Valiquette (@VallysView) March 22, 2018
FInally, the Minnesota Golden Gophers wished Lindgren nothing but the best as he begins his journey in New York:
#Gophers sophomore Ryan Lindgren (@Lindiesal) will forego his final two years with the program after signing an entry-level deal with the @NYRangers.
We wish Ryan the best as he starts his professional career. https://t.co/FAPCtPJplE
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) March 22, 2018
Our own Ricky Milliner, who covers the Hartford Wolf Pack for Forever Blueshirts, believes Lindgren might be headed to the Wolf Pack shortly:
Hartford has re-assigned Sergey Zborovskiy (D) from Hartford to Greenville.
Should mean that the Pack should be getting Ryan Lindgren shortly… making room for him. #HartfordHasIt pic.twitter.com/lhEckunA50
— Ricky Milliner (@Milliner06) March 22, 2018
And Ricky’s thought was confirmed by Larry Brooks of the New York Post, saying that Lindgren will indeed be heading to Hartford:
Rangers sign Lindgren, who will play in Hartford under ATO before contract kicks in next year.
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) March 22, 2018
Stay here at foreverblueshirts.com for all updates on Lindgren and all current Rangers news.
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