New York Rangers sign Tyler Pitlick to one-year, $787,500 contract

The New York Rangers have signed center Tyler Pitlick to a one-year, $787,500 contract.

Pitlick was an unrestricted free agent after the conclusion of his one-year, $750,000 contract that he signed with the St. Louis Blues in the early stages of the 2022-23 regular season. Pitlick sees a pay increase of $37,500 on his new deal, although not as high as the $1 million+ cap hits that he carried from 2017 to 2022.

Pitlick had one of his better seasons in 2022-23 with the Blues, with 7 goals, 9 assists, and 16 points in 61 games. It’s his third-highest point total of his career, with his best season coming in 2017-18 with the Dallas Stars, where he had 14 goals, 13 assists, and 27 points in 80 games.

Pitlick was a second round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 2010, and spent parts of six seasons with that organization, making his NHL debut in the 2013-14 season. He’s also spent time with the Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Arizona Coyotes, Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, and Blues in his nine-season career.

Pitlick is one of a few players the Rangers have signed on the first day of free agency, as they’ve also added Blake Wheeler, Jonathan Quick, and Alex Belzile to their team as unrestricted free agent signings. They still have about $9.35 million in cap space with K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere as the only restricted free agents they need to re-sign.

The Rangers are looking to rebound from a season that was a slight step back, as they finished third in the Metropolitan Division with a 47-22-13 record. They didn’t go as far in the playoffs as they would have liked despite loading up at the trade deadline, losing in seven games in the first round to the New Jersey Devils.