Rangers interest in rival free agent defenseman should worry fans

The New York Rangers created $6.5 million in cap space for the 2025-26 NHL season by trading Chris Kreider, and if rumors are to be believed, President and General Manager Chris Drury may already have plans to spend it on a defenseman. If the rumored interest is true, it would be a massive mistake, and one that should worry fans.

The player in question is Ivan Provorov, and the report comes from Daria Tuboltseva of RG.com, a Russian sports journalist who has been covering the sport since 2016. Provorov is a 28-year defender the Blueshirts know very well, as he's spent the entirety of his career in the Metropolitan Division with the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets. This familiarity should be enough to prevent the team from signing him, and yet here we are.

Although Provorov stands 6'1", weighs 218 pounds, and is left-handed defenseman that blocks shots and get physical when needed, he's a very mediocre hockey player. In many ways his underlying numbers are similar to defenders the Rangers have acquired or had interest in before, so it is totally believable that they'd consider signing him.

Here's a look at his history as a player, and you will see that in no way does he have the numbers to justify a contract, let alone a top-four role.

Here he rates out as primarily a third-pair defenseman, and at his age he's unlikely to evolve into something better. The consistency of his production speaks to the player he is, and that is a defender not worth signing.

This chart is specific to this season and highlights how he "contributed" for the Blue Jackets this past season via Hockeyviz.com.

He grades out poorly in overall ability amongst defensemen, and for the primary function the Rangers would need him for, which is defense, he was 19th percentile among all defenders over the last three seasons according to Evolving-Hockey.com

Provorov logged 1,535 minutes in 5v5 situations this past season, and his slash line included a 52.52 goals for percentage, a 48.06 Corsi for percentage, and a 46.31 expected goals for percentage based on data available on Evolving-Hockey.com The year prior his lines were 48.94%, 48.21%, and 45.51 in each respective category, so it isn't a case of him having a down year at a time in which he's under pressure of performing to earn a new contract.

Part of the reason the Rangers may be interested in him is that he should be cheaper than most of the bigger names. Dmitry Orlov and Vladislav Gavrikov are players who could command a high salary that put themselves outside of the Blueshirts' price range. If that's truly the case, the Rangers would be better off trying to uncover a diamond in the rough, or explore the trade market.

No matter how you look at it, Provorov isn't a player the Rangers should be considering. They need to upgrade their defense, and there's nothing about him that screams upgrade. For far too long the Rangers have settled on defense, and it is important to steer clear of Provorov this July.