NHL Free Agency: The Ducks Steal A Pair Of Former Rangers
The Anaheim Ducks made a few significant moves to their roster involving a pair of former New York Rangers on Wednesday afternoon when they signed two forwards to help out their middle six.
According to CapFriendly, the Ducks came into the off-season with the most cap space out of any team in the NHL with just over $38 million available.
They used that money to bring in some valuable veteran pieces to try and fill out a roster full of young talent in Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale, and Mason McTavish.
The first big move the Ducks made with that available cap space was signing Ryan Strome. Strome signed a five-year contract worth a total of $25 million with an AAV of $5 million per season through 2026-2027.
The Ducks signed Strome and Vatrano to help bolster the middle-six.
Strome, 29, was a vital part of a Rangers team that made it to the Eastern Conference Finals this past season.
Strome is coming off a career-high 21 goals and added 33 assists for a total of 54 points in 74 regular season games for the Rangers while playing primarily in the middle six. It is expected that Strome will file in the Ducks’ middle six as well, centering the second line.
Anaheim also added Frank Vatrano to a three-year contract worth $11 million with an AAV of $3.7 million through 2024-2025.
Vatrano was acquired by the Rangers from the Florida Panthers at the trade deadline for a mid-round pick and was one of the more productive players for New York during their playoff run.
Vatrano totaled 13 points in 20 post-season games to go along with 13 points in 22 regular season games with the Rangers.
The Anaheim Ducks made it a priority to bring in some veteran players to pair with their young core and were able to do that by adding Strome and Vatrano.
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In a division that includes Edmonton, Calgary, Los Angeles, and a Las Vegas team that will be more motivated to return to the playoffs, Anaheim had to find some ways to get better and bolster their roster and they have done so with Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano.