Rangers add center Carpenter
Chris Drury said he was targeting a low-salary depth center in the Kevin Rooney mold, and the Rangers president and general manager found what he was looking for.
The Rangers signed Ryan Carpenter to a one-year, oneway deal for a league-minimum $750,000 on Thursday, fortifying the club’s options for the fourth line with a lowcost center who brings a lot of the same qualities as Rooney did. Coincidentally, Rooney signed a two-year deal at $1.3 million per year as a free agent with the Flames, the team to which Carpenter was traded at the trade deadline in March and for which he played eight games.
Carpenter, 31, is a defensiveminded forward who is effective on the penalty kill and is relatively strong on faceoffs. Since he is a center, the 6-foot, 200-pounder will probably have a good shot at securing a spot on the fourth line, considering most of the other candidates are wings. The signing gives the Rangers Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck, Filip Chytil and Carpenter down the middle. The Rangers also have Barclay Goodrow as an option at center.
Carpenter is the second player who previously played for Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant that Drury has brought in this offseason. He signed Trocheck, who played for Gallant with the Panthers, to a seven-year deal on Day 1 of free agency on Wednesday. Carpenter, in his second season under Gallant with the Golden Knights in 2018-19, recorded career highs in points (18), assists (13) and faceoff win percentage (52.6).
Last season, Carpenter skated in 68 games, between the Blackhawks and the Flames. Totaling three goals and nine assists, Carpenter also posted a 47.27 faceoff win percentage to give him a career 48.2 rate.
The Rangers also signed forward Turner Elson to a twoyear, two-way contract with an average annual value of $762,500, per CapFriendly.