What to do about the logjam on defense

The New York Rangers have a great problem.  They have too many defensemen.  That issue was compounded when Nils Lundkvist signed his Entry Level Contract (ELC) after a stellar season in the Swedish Hockey League.

Make no mistake about it, they needed to get him under contract as he would have become a free agent next summer if he had not signed. It’s proof that he wants to make it in the NHL and is ready to make the jump to North America.

With Lundkvist under contract, the defensive depth chart is completely overloaded and if some of the younger defenders progress faster than expected, it will be even more crowded.

How the Rangers assess their prospects could be affected by the firing of Nick Bobrov, Director of European Scouting for the Blueshirts since 2015.   He was a Jeff Gorton guy, coming over from the Bruins when Gorton joined the Rangers.

Chris Drury is remaking the front office and this is just another move.  The New York Post reported that Drury will oversee the draft with Director of North American Scouting Chris Morehouse.  For those fans calling for the head of Gordie Clark, he was moved down the pecking order last season and is listed as a professional scout and is not in a leadership role.

The Rangers have 15 defensemen under contract or under team control as RFA’s.  Here’s a look at the depth chart divided by likelihood of making the NHL roster.  The rankings within the groups are not in any particular order.