7/28/21 | The Rangers have confirmed Nemeth has signed a three-year deal.
Nemeth has an eight-team no-trade list. (Puck Pedia)
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7/27/21 | Nemeth’s deal will be three years and $2.5 million per season. (Brooks)
7/26/21 | Larry Brooks writes in the NY Post that the Rangers are expected to sign Swedish defenseman Patrik Nemeth when free agency opens on Wednesday.
Brooks says that Nemeth, 29, is expected to sign a 2 or 3 year deal that will have a cap hit of around $2.25 – $2.75 million. (NY Post)
Colorado gave Nemeth permission to speak with other teams ahead of free agency, according to Brooks. (NY Post)
Nemeth is 6-3, 228 and has played 366 NHL games with Dallas, Colorado and Detroit.
Brooks says that Nemeth will likely be on the Rangers third pair with fellow Swede and newly signed Nils Lundkvist. (NY Post)
Nemeth has averaged 18:03 per game in his career with 8 goals, 50 assists and a total of 515 hits in 366 games.
He has 28 games of playoff experience.
Adam Rotter: The Rangers were looking for a veteran on defense and Nemeth fits that bill. He’s got size and has played on some good teams and has playoff experience. He’s not an overly exciting signing, but if the Rangers want him on the third pair and next to Nils Lundkvist, it’s fine. It would be better if it was one-year, two is okay, but three is too much. Of course it’s likely that three-years, if it is indeed three-years, is probably what got him to sign with the Rangers. Guys like Nemeth are always in demand as cheapish veterans, especially when they have some size and grit and I’m sure he and his agent used that leverage for a multi-year deal.
The other side of signing a guy like Nemeth is that he takes the spot of one of the many young/rookie defensemen the Rangers have turning pro. This means that Zac Jones is likely in Hartford, Matthew Robertson is likely in Hartford and Braden Schneider is back in junior. It was unlikely to doubtful that the Rangers were going to go with a rookie third pair and that is where Nemeth and the eventual seventh defensemen comes in. Being in Hartford isn’t a bad thing even though Adam Fox and K’Andre Miller were able to skip that step. Then there is also the, very, likely good chance that one or two of these defensemen end up traded in some other deal.