Rangers bring Chad Ruhwedel back to add depth on defense
The New York Rangers addressed their depth at the defenseman position Friday when they agreed to terms with Chad Ruhwedel on a one-year contract. Reportedly it’s a two-way contract worth $775,000 at the NHL level.
The 34-year-old returns to the Rangers after they acquired him ahead of the 2024 NHL trade deadline in a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins for a fourth-round pick in the 2027 draft. Ruhwedel played only five games with the Blueshirts after the trade and did not register a point, serving as the eighth defenseman on the NHL roster. He followed Zac Jones into the lineup when the Rangers lost three defensemen due to injury (Jacob Trouba, Ryan Lindgren and Erik Gustafsson) in March.
“When you’re taking on the end of the season and what you hope to be a long playoff run, having that depth I think is really important,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said at the time of the Ruhwedel trade. “He provides that with his experience and the way he plays the game. He’s a guy who can come in and help us.”
Ruhwedel did not play in any of New York’s 16 postseason games this past spring. Before the trade, he appeared in 47 games with the Penguins and had four points (one goal, three assists). He had an NHL career-high 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 78 games with the Penguins in 2021-22.
A veteran of 364 games with the Rangers, Penguins and Buffalo Sabres, Ruhwedel helped Pittsburgh win the Stanley Cup in 2017.
WATCH: Mollie Walker breaks down the Rangers offseason in Forever Blueshirts interview
Chad Ruhwedel returns to add depth on Rangers defense corps
Ruhwedel will enter training camp looking to earn the seventh defenseman spot on the opening-night roster. Jones is expected to move onto the third pairing after Gustafsson signed a two-year contract in free agency with the Detroit Red Wings.
As it stand now, Lindgren, K’Andre Miller and Jones are the top three defensemen on the left side and Adam Fox, Braden Schneider and Trouba will patrol the right side. Ruhwedel is a right-hand shot, but can play either side, which adds to his value.
Ruhwedel’s main competition in training camp is expected to be Ben Harpur. The 6-foot-6 left-hand shot was a mainstay the second half of the 2022-23 season with the Rangers but missed nearly all of last season following November surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle. Harpur, 29, played just seven games with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the American Hockey League last season before the injury.
Lindgren and Schneider still need contracts since each is a restricted free agent. Schneider’s deal should be fairly straightforward bridge deal as he’s coming off his entry-level contract.
However, Lindgren filed for salary arbitration and could be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2024-25 season if the two sides fail to agree on a multi-year contract.
More About:New York Rangers News