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

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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BUFFALO, NY – JUNE 25: New York Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton and New York Rangers Director, European Scouting Nickolai Bobrov looks on during the 2016 NHL Draft on June 25, 2016 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY – JUNE 25: New York Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton and New York Rangers Director, European Scouting Nickolai Bobrov looks on during the 2016 NHL Draft on June 25, 2016 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Earlier in the week, every team submitted a list of the restricted free agents they would tender an offer to. Interestingly enough, there were some intriguing young players left untendered. The New York Rangers should look into bringing in some of these guys on the cheap.

About a week ago, the New York Rangers tendered qualifying offers to Mika Zibanejad, Jesper Fast, Nicklas Jensen, Michael Paliotta and Troy Donnay, which means they are still considered restricted free agents. The other restricted free agents–Adam Clendening, Mackenzie Skapski and Brandon Pirri–were not tendered, making them unrestricted free agents.

The Rangers weren’t the only club to make these tough calls on their young players. Each team submitted a list to the league of which RFAs they would try to keep. Those names omitted from the lists will join Clendening, Skapski and Pirri on the unrestricted free agent market.

For a team that is undergoing a one-year “retooling” like the Rangers, they may benefit from dipping into the RFA-turned-UFA pool. These are five players that the Rangers should look at.

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 /

Nail Yakupov- St. Louis

Yakupov has been arguably the worst first overall pick in the last decade. He’s still only 23-years-old, so he has time to turn this thing around, but he needs to find the perfect situation. The Oilers gave up on their former draft pick in September when they dealt him to the Blues for just a measly third round pick.

Yakupov had the worst season of his young career in 16-17. He only played in 40 games, scoring three goals and nine assists in those contests. Yakupov was never able to consistently crack the Blues’ lineup and for good reason. He would often disappear on the ice when he did play and the Blues decided to go in a different direction.

The Rangers were a team that was rumored to be interested in Yakupov for years. Could they be willing to give him a cheap one-year contract to see what he has? I don’t think the Rangers can go wrong giving him a chance to make the team in camp.

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.

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.

Mar 31, 2017; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Coyotes center Alexander Burmistrov (91) controls the puck against Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov (92) in the first period at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 31, 2017; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Coyotes center Alexander Burmistrov (91) controls the puck against Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov (92) in the first period at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Alexander Burmistrov

It feels like Burmistrov has been around forever and that’s because he has.

Burmistrov debuted in 2010-11 with the Atlanta Thrashers but somehow is only 25-years-old. After parts of seven seasons split between the Jets franchise and Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL and then the Jets once again, Burmistrov was waived in January and claimed by the Coyotes on January 1st.

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He was having a very rough time in Winnipeg, as he was only able to notch two assists in 23 games there. Once he got to Arizona, his game turned around quickly. In 26 games with Arizona, Burmistrov tallied five goals and nine assists playing in the Coyotes’ bottom-six.

It is kind of surprising that the Coyotes decided to let him walk in unrestricted free agency after his miraculous turnaround. One reason the Coyotes may have decided to let the Russian go is that of his abysmal CF% of 42.4%. It is worth noting that Arizona was the worst puck possession team in the league, but that number is alarming.

Burmistrov could be poised to return to the KHL, but the Rangers need centers with skill and could at the very least be interested in him as a camp invite.

Jan 23, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche defenseman Patrick Wiercioch (28) controls the puck in the first period against the San Jose Sharks at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 23, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche defenseman Patrick Wiercioch (28) controls the puck in the first period against the San Jose Sharks at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

Patrick Wiercioch

A lot of Rangers fans have been bullish on Wiercioch for a couple of seasons now. He seems to be nothing more than an average defender, but for the Rangers, that would be a huge improvement over what they currently have.

This is the second straight year that Wiercioch wasn’t tendered by his team. Last year it was the Ottawa Senators, this year the Colorado Avalanche.

One of the oldest RFAs not to be tendered, the 26-year-old Wiercioch had a much better season last year than he had in 15-16. In 16-17, he tallied four goals and eight assists in 57 games for the worst team in the league. On a team that was in the bottom half of the league in possession metrics, Wiercioch performed just as you would have expected him to in that department considering the circumstances.

Wiercioch is huge, standing in at 6-foot-5, 200lbs. He is a pretty smooth skater and has a big shot from the point, a shot which he needs to use a lot more often than he has in the past. He is a guy who can be rather inconsistent though.

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If you’re the Rangers, why not take a flier on the hulking defenseman? It’s never a bad thing to have too many defensemen, especially when your defense looked the way it did last year. If the Rangers enter camp with an all out battle for their third pair duties between a bunch of different defenseman of various ages and skill sets, that could be the best thing for them moving forward.

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