Alexis Lafreniere agrees to seven-year contract extension with Rangers
Alexis Lafreniere agreed to a seven-year contract extension with the New York Rangers on Friday.
The team didn’t release monetary figures, but multiple published reports before the extension was announced said the deal for the 23-year-old forward would be worth $52.15 million, an average annual value of $7.45 million.
PuckPedia reported that Lafreniere will receive an $8 million signing bonus and $2 million base salary in 2025-26, the first season of the deal, and will have an eight-team no-trade list in years 3 through 7.
Lafreniere has four goals and seven points in seven games this season. He’s had at least one point in six of seven games, including the lone Rangers goal in a 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday. Â Among Rangers skaters this season, Lafreniere is first in even-strength goals (4), second in even-strength points (7), third in goals and tied for third in points.
The No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft had a breakout season in 2023-24, scoring 28 goals — 26 at even strength — and finishing with 57 points. He tied for the team lead with eight goals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Quebec native has 155 points (79 goals, 76 assists) in 305 NHL games and 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) in 43 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Lafreniere will be 30 when the extension expires; he could have become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at the end of this season. The new deal covers his last two seasons of RFA status and the first five seasons after he could have become an unrestricted free agent.
“He was a top player for us in the playoffs. and I think that has to do with how he built the year, and the confidence that he gained from that,’’ Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said of Lafreniere in Montreal earlier this week, according to Newsday. “And I don’t see that changing.’’
Lafreniere agrees to seven-year extension with Rangers
Lafreniere’s deal relieves one headache for general manager Chris Drury, who is trying to sign a number of key free agents while remaining under the salary cap for next season. The biggest is starting goalie Igor Shesterkin, who can be a UFA at season’s end and is said to be seeking to become the highest-paid goalie in NHL history after turning down a reported eight-year, $88 million offer.
Defenseman K’Andre Miller is also a pending RFA with arbitration rights who’s due a healthy raise, Veteran defenseman Ryan Lindgren also can become a UFA, as can forwards Reilly Smith and Jimmy Vesey, and backup goalie Jonathan Quick.
Related: 3 Rangers takeaways from first regulation loss of season
Chad Ruhwedel clears waivers as Rangers consider next move on defense
Chad Ruhwedel cleared waivers Friday and was assigned to Hartford of the American Hockey League. The 34-year-old defenseman played one game this season — against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday — and was in line to be the extra defenseman in New York before the emergence of rookie Victor Mancini.
The 22-year-old has played each of the first seven games for the Rangers — four paired with Zac Jones, one with Ruhwedel and the past two with Lindgren, who just returned from jaw surgery. Mancini had a three-game point streak end Thursday against the Panthers. He has one goal and two assists, and he’s third on the Rangers with 11 blocked shots.
However, Mancini was the seventh — extra — defenseman at practice Friday. Jones skated on a third pair with Braden Schneider, and Lindgren formed a pair with Jacob Trouba. Miller remained with Adam Fox on the top pair — Lindgren’s longtime spot.
Jones has one assist in four games and was scratched for the past three.
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