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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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Apr 5, 2017; Buffalo, NY, USA; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Nikita Nesterov (89) during the game against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 5, 2017; Buffalo, NY, USA; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Nikita Nesterov (89) during the game against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports /

Nikita Nesterov

Nesterov is a very interesting player for me. In fact, I would go as far to say that he is my favorite of the five players I am writing about today.

The 24-year-old Russian isn’t the greatest defensively, but don’t tell that to his metrics. Granted, Montreal is a pretty solid puck-possession team–they ranked third in the league–Nesterov posted the second best CF% of Canadiens defenders (54.3) and had the best CA/60 numbers of any Canadien who played at least 20 games (49.21).

He stands in at about 5-foot-11 and weighs about 190lbs, so he is about average size. He has a hell of a shot and can skate with the best of them. Although he is a left defenseman, he still would be a decent fit on the Rangers blueline. With that said, the Rangers defense is a case of too many guys for just a few slots. If they make a trade to unload a defenseman, or even if they don’t, Nesterov should be a guy the team calls from the get-go of free agency on July 1st.

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