Another defensive prospect comes into the New York Rangers fold with the signing of Tarmo Reunanen to an entry level contract that will bring the Finnish defenseman to prospect training camp this summer.
New York Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton announced today that they have agreed to terms with Finnish defenseman Tarmo Reunanen on an entry-level contract. The signing brings another developing defenseman into the Rangers ever growing depth chart of young blueliners, creating a very crowded house on the Rangers blue line.
Reunanen was taken in fourth round as the 98th overall pick of the 2016 amateur draft. He is a six foot,180 pound left shot defenseman who continues to climb the prospect charts among hockey prospect analyst rankings. In 58 games with Lukko of the Finnish Elite league (Liiga) this past season, the 21-year old Reunanen was a top pair defenseman scoring six goals and 19 assists for 25 points, to go with 40 penalty minutes.
Reunanen’s stock continued to climb last season and is yet another of the Rangers upside picks taken since Gorton took over as GM. He was ranked quite high the year before the 2016 draft with a very strong showing with the U17 national team, but a spinal injury limited him to just 16 total games. Reunanen’s stock dropped mightily in the draft rankings to #149 and #174 in Future Considerations and ISS Hockey respectively.
Reactions were mixed when he was drafted in the fourth round, but Rangers scouts believed the talent was there. As was often the case when Gorton took over, the Rangers had traded away their first and second round picks. Finding upside talent in players such as Reunanen, while initially criticized by Rangers fans, has often turned out incredibly well.
Let’s put Reunanen’s performance in proper perspective. He led all Liiga defensemen under 21-years old in goals and points and ranked second in assists. He is among just four Liiga defensemen at this age level who have registered 30 combined points of regular season and playoffs. The others being Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell, and Sami Niku, all of whom are currently playing in the NHL.
A workhorse on the blue line, Reunanen’s average ice time exceeded 21 minutes per game while logging more than 24 minutes average ice time in 19 of his final 31 regular season games. The Rangers scouting staff report that he has great puck skills and the patience of an offensive defenseman to create his own shooting lane. He’s mobile, with excellent first pass vision who can skate and move the puck up ice. He has a cannon from the point and he’s not shy to use it.
The signing of Reunanen is seen as a step in building up a quality back-end at Hartford which certainly had its struggles this past season. With a blue line that is getting crowded by the minute, Reunanen’s signing could be to stay ahead of his draft rights expiring next June and give them an opportunity to appraise his talent in North American competition. It could also be an indication that the Rangers will be looking to address the log jam of some current veteran defensemen on the NHL roster. I personally see Reunanen at Hartford this upcoming season but fans will get a glimpse of his talent at Rangers prospect camp this summer.