NY Rangers bring back Matthew Robertson hoping for next step in his development

The New York Rangers signed Matt Rempe to a two-year contract extension on Tuesday, and today they've announced a similar deal for defenseman Matthew Robertson.

This contract is setup in such a way that Robertson will likely be in the AHL for the 2025-26 season, and for the 2026-27 season he could be at either level.

Robertson's cap hit will be the same no matter what level he's at, but his actual salary will be lower this season when he's playing for Hartford than it would be if he were on the Rangers' active roster. The Rangers drafted Robertson 49th overall in the second round of the 2019 draft.

This season he spent 60 games in the American Hockey League with the Wolf Pack and finished with a line that included one goal, 24 assists, and 25 points. He made his long awaited NHL debut on April 14th against the Florida Panthers, and overall skated in just two games with the varsity squad.

Robertson very much looks to be someone the team is keeping around to be a mainstay in the AHL, and a tertiary layer of depth for the NHL. He's skated in 250 AHL games to date and has tallied just 80 points which equated to a points per game average of 0.32. That's a far cry from the 127 points in 208 WHL games (0.61 points per game) and the fact that it took him as long as it did to make an NHL appearance indicates how the front office feels about him.

That said, you need players for the minors, and maybe there's a chance that he's a bit of a late bloomer. The 6'4", 209-pound Robertson just turned 24, and there's no harm in this minimal contract. Maybe he's going to occupy a roster spot similar to when Libor Hajek was kept around in the hopes he blossomed. Maybe he's taking Zac Jones' roster spot as a fringe No. 7 option. There's no knowing what could happen, but he just becomes another option for the team to consider going forward.