New York Rangers: Four centers to be avoided in free agency

The New York Rangers have lost two of their centers in the past week. They will likely look to free agency to fill the holes created by their loss.

It was a tough week of goodbyes for the New York Rangers. They parted ways with fourth line center Oscar Lindberg via the Expansion Draft and first-line center Derek Stepan via trade.

Stepan, along with Antti Raanta, was traded to the Arizona Coyotes as part of a package to acquire defenseman Anthony DeAngelo and the 7th overall pick in the draft. Lindberg was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft.

Both transactions ended with the Rangers not getting any NHL ready centers in return. Now they will likely look to free agency to fill the voids left by Stepan and Lindberg.

Here’s a look at four free-agent centers the Rangers should avoid.

Joe Thornton

Joe Thornton could be on the Rangers radar this summer and he certainly should not be.

There is a lot of uncertainty about what we will get out of Thornton next season. He is just a year removed from an 82 point season and finishing fifth in the Hart Trophy voting. However this year Thornton had just fifty points.

It doesn’t help that Thornton finished this year’s playoffs with a torn ACL/MCL that required surgery to fix. That’s never promising for a player who is turning 38 this week.

The Rangers just don’t need to take a risk like this. Thornton has the rationale to ask for $4 mil over one to two years and that’s money the Rangers could spend elsewhere.

Thornton is too risky for comfort and the Rangers should look elsewhere for solutions at center.

Mike Fisher

Fisher is in a similar boat as Thornton (no pun intended). He is going to have the rationale to ask for good money that just comes with too much risk.

Fisher just turned 37. He is also coming off of a long playoff wrong where his Predators lost in the Stanley Cup Final to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Throughout the playoffs, you could tell that he had a lot of wear and tear on his body, as he missed some playoff games with an injury.

The Rangers could use their money in much better ways here. Fisher will likely want to finish his career wherever he chooses to go. If the Rangers sign him for two or three years, his contract will hurt down the road.

The current cap situation may seem like that’s unlikely. However, signing players like Fisher is how the Rangers could end up in cap trouble later. They should just play it safe and avoid Fisher.

David Desharnais

Desharnais is a younger option that the Rangers should avoid this summer. He spent last season in two cities, Edmonton and Montreal. He was traded at the deadline for Brandon Davidson.

The soon-to-be 31 year old could be in line for a nice pay check around $3 million a year. He carried a $2.8 million cap hit last year and serious under performed.

He had just 14 points in both cities through 49 games. It doesn’t help that he is not good in his own end. His offense is not strong enough for his style of play and it severely hurts his value.

Because he is younger, the Rangers are more likely to sign him to a deal for at least three seasons. It could lock them up in a bad contract they will wish they were out of.

This deal just doesn’t feel safe and the Rangers will hopefully recognize that.