Breaking Outta Nowhere! Rangers sign Jarret Stoll, address face-off problems
Still with Cup (LAK)
The Rangers have obviously decided that being one of the worst teams in the NHL at face-offs is no longer acceptable. In a signing out of nowhere, the Blueshirts have inked L.A. Kings center Jarret Stoll to a deal.
OFFICIAL: #NYR have agreed to terms with free agent forward Jarret Stoll. pic.twitter.com/YXuZLJNJmY
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) August 10, 2015
Darren Dreger is reporting that this is a one year deal for the 33 year old, 6’1″, 213lbs center with a much needed right handed shot. Stoll is a 2x Stanley Cup champion and terrorized the NY Rangers in the face-off dot in 2014. Winning face-offs is an art. Stoll dominated the Rangers during that Final at 57% in the circle. He has his coach drop pucks for him after every practice and considers it one of the most important parts of the game, especially his. Another thing to note is his ability to penalty kill which took a hit when the Rangers lost Carl Hagelin.
The exact terms have yet to come out, but it is believed to be less than $1M per and makes perfect sense for the Rangers. He will make this team leaving little room for Oscar Lindberg on the roster, or is a trade in the works as well? We will soon find out. Other possibilities could be that Tanner Glass has seen his last days with the Rangers.
UPDATE ON TERMS:
Jarret Stoll's one-year deal with #NYR pays him $800,000.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) August 10, 2015
Stoll was busted this offseason for smuggling cocaine into a Las Vegas pool party. He was able to avoid jail time and the Rangers who last year signed Ryan Malone after his cocaine possession charge are looking past this incident as well.
If Stoll does work out and he should, the Rangers will have 4 experienced centers and a legitimate face-off man. He and Dominic Moore will make for a very formidable duo on defensive draws late in games this upcoming season.
Here is a bit of the NY Rangers press release:
Stoll, 33, has skated in 792 career NHL games over parts of 12 seasons with Edmonton and Los Angeles, registering 140 goals and 239 assists for 379 points, along with a plus-three rating and 582 penalty minutes. Stoll has won 55.4% of faceoffs he has taken in his career (6,834-for-12,339), and he has posted a faceoff win percentage of 51.0% or higher in every season of his career. In addition, he is one of three NHL players (among qualifying skaters) who have posted a 51.0% faceoff win percentage or higher in every season since 2003-04, along with Joe Thornton and Pavel Datsyuk. Stoll led his team in faceoff win percentage in nine consecutive seasons (2005-06 – 2013-14) and has ranked either first or second on his team in faceoff win percentage in 10 seasons during his career. He has also reached the 40-point plateau in four different seasons and has notched at least 20 assists in six different seasons.
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