Rangers sign Braden Schneider to 2-year, $4.4 million contract

The New York Rangers continued to take care of their offseason business Saturday when the agreed with defenseman Braden Schneider on a two-year, $4.4 million contract. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without arbitration rights coming off his entry-level contract.

Per PuckPedia , Schneider will receive a $125,000 signing bonus and a salary of $1.635 million this upcoming season. Then in 2025-26, he will make $2.64 million in salary. The average annual value for salary cap purposes is $2.2 million over the next two seasons.

When this bridge deal is up, Schneider will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights in the 2026 offseason and will be two years away from unrestricted free agency.

The Rangers agreed to terms with Schneider one day after signing free-agent defenseman Chad Ruhwedel to a one-year, two-way contract that calls for the 34-year-old to receive the League minimum $775,000 when he’s in the NHL. Ruhwedel is expected to be New York’s seventh defenseman with Zac Jones moving up to a third-pair role after Erik Gustafsson signed a two-year contract in free agency with the Detroit Red Wings.

With a reported $5.1 million of projected cap space, the Rangers still need to work out a contract with RFA defenseman Ryan Lindgren. Unlike Schneider’s negotiations, which were pretty straightforward, Lindgren’s are more difficult. The 26-year-old filed for salary arbitration and could become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season if a multi-year deal is not agreed to. The biggest sticking point is believed to be the length of Lindgren’s next contract .

Related: Why Chad Ruhwedel signing is good move by Rangers

Braden Schneider could see expanded role with Rangers

Schneider played in all 98 games with the Rangers this past season — 82 in the regular season and 16 in the postseason. He had an NHL career-high 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) in the regular season and contributed two assists in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

He’s already played 206 NHL games and another 43 in the playoffs since his debut Jan. 13, 2022.

“I think this year, with the staff we’ve got, I learned a ton,” Schneider said at breakup day in June. “I think I’ve gained a ton of confidence and … I just have to make sure I keep building on my game. I think there’s levels I want to find still. There’s still a lot of growth and a lot of learning to go.”

A solid third-pair defenseman to this point, Schneider likely will take on a bigger role with the Blueshirts moving forward. Since he excelled on the second pair with K’Andre Miller when injuries afforded him the chance to move up this past March, the Rangers are expected to pair those two in 2024-25. Schneider and Miller also played together quite a bit during the playoffs, when captain Jacob Trouba was put on the third pair with Gustafsson.

If Trouba is not traded and remains in New York, the likeliest scenario after a failed trade attempt this offseason, there’s a good chance he’ll be teamed with Jones on the third pair.

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