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New York Rangers: Five non-tendered free agents that could be targeted

By John Williams

Oct 25, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues right wing Nail Yakupov (64) handles the puck against the Calgary Flames during the first period at Scottrade Center. The Flames won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 25, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues right wing Nail Yakupov (64) handles the puck against the Calgary Flames during the first period at Scottrade Center. The Flames won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 18, 2016; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Colorado Avalanche center Mikhail Grigorenko (25) against the Calgary Flames during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Colorado Avalanche won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 18, 2016; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Colorado Avalanche center Mikhail Grigorenko (25) against the Calgary Flames during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Colorado Avalanche won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports /

Mikhail Grigorenko

Grigorenko showed signs of improvement this past season on a Colorado Avalanche team that finished in last place. In his second full season in the league, Grigorenko posted 10 goals and 13 assists in 75 games.

The Russian is a great skater for his size at 6-foot-3 and 210lbs. The knock on him is that sometimes he looks a bit disinterested or unengaged in play. That’s never a good thing to hear, but on a team as bad as Colorado has been, it’s in human nature to not be as engaged in games that have zero meaning.

Now that the Rangers have two vacant center slots on their roster and will likely need to at least fill one of them in free agency, a guy like Grigorenko who is young–he’s only 23–is highly skilled and will most likely come on a cheap deal with little term wouldn’t be a horrible option.

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