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.