New York Rangers Sign RFA Defenseman

The New York Rangers took care of some internal business on Tuesday as the team came to terms with restricted free agent defenseman Libor Hajek on a one-year contract worth $874,125.

This seems to be a popular figure as we have seen multiple young defenseman get signed for this very amount. Hajek was acquired by the Rangers in a trade back in 2018 via the Tampa Bay Lightning where Ryan McDonagh and J.T Miller made way to the Sunshine State. Last season Hajek appeared in 44 games, recording four points. He then went on to represent the Czech Republic at the World Championships.

Hajek will be in tough this season to crack the regular lineup as the Rangers defense core is going to be very competitive. New Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant loves work ethic, so if Hajek wants minutes he's going to need to outwork his internal competition. The former second-round pick will be battling the likes of Jarred Tinordi and K'Andre Miller for ice-time on the left-side of the Rangers defense.