New York Rangers: Five remaining free agents that must be avoided

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 06: Jason Chimera #25 of the New York Islanders celebrates his goal at 17:24 of the first period against the New York Rangers at the Barclays Center on December 6, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 06: Jason Chimera #25 of the New York Islanders celebrates his goal at 17:24 of the first period against the New York Rangers at the Barclays Center on December 6, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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BUFFALO, NY – FEBRUARY 19: Josh Gorges #4 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against the Washington Capitals during an NHL game on February 19, 2018 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY – FEBRUARY 19: Josh Gorges #4 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against the Washington Capitals during an NHL game on February 19, 2018 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)

Josh Gorges

There are not too many remaining UFA defenseman that the Rangers should be look at right now. This has less to do with the quality of defenseman available as the depth that the Rangers currently have at the position to work with. Now, that depth might not translate into quality, but they have a lot of applicants, if you will, for their six defense positions.

One of the top remaining UFA defenders is Gorges.

Now, you can’t just look at his counting stats to determine how good he is at his position. He is not going to score much. In fact, he’s scored just three goals in his last 223 NHL games!

Gorges is, by all definitions, a stay-at-home defender. He has good size at 6-foot-1 that allows him to crush opponents with a body check and get the puck out of the zone.

I took a look at Own the Puck’s new and improved HERO Charts to see where Gorges best fits into a lineup.

What that says is that Gorges is best suited for a role as a seventh defenseman, but you could get away with him being on your third pair, although it’s not ideal.

The Rangers would rather give their young kids like John Gilmour, Tony DeAngelo and Ryan Lindgren a chance to make the team instead of locking in someone like Gorges to a deal. And besides, they already have Steven Kampfer set to live in the press box.

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