The New York Rangers have signed center Vincent Trocheck to a whopping seven-year deal worth $5.625M AAV and goaltender Jaroslav Halak to a one-year $1.55M contract.

The Rangers get: a centerman who, prior to last year, had been struggling with injuries. He was a 75-point player pre-injury, but since then has mostly hovered at around 52 points in terms of pace. Trocheck has become a grittier player, seeing spikes in both his PIM and Hits and he is consistently a top face-off man, lately hovering around 55% success rate. Trocheck's expected-goals rate has been consistently in the positive, though he has been seeing sheltered minutes and relative to the quality of competition he has been a little lacking (illustration below). Given the below, this contract may have been a year or two too long for my money. But I'm not paying!

In Halak, the Rangers replaced Aleksandar Georgiev and, for money money, upgraded the backup position at a lesser rate. Halak is perfect for the role because he can play 20 games to Igor Shesterkin’s 60. Or, if Shesterkin gets hurt, Halak could play a solid 50 games if needed. He also offers veteran guidance.

Fantasy Players Impacted: Trocheck replaces Ryan Strome. Which means he gets to play with Artemi Panarin. Which means he's about to see a career high in points. If he can stay healthy. But Trocheck dynasty owners should crack open a bottle of champagne. This move keeps Filip Chytil on the third line, but that's okay because that new Kid Line with Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko is pretty awesome.