The New York Rangers avoided arbitration yet again, this time with defenseman Dylan McIlrath, inking him to a new 1-year, $800,000 deal, bridging the gap a little bit between where he is as a player and where the team will be a year from now, with him in the fold.
The 24-year old was the 10th overall selection in the 2010 draft, but only started to crack the lineup in the 2016 season, where he played in 34 games, scoring 2 goals and 4 points.
Now that he has some experience at both the AHL and NHL levels, it is about time that he cracks this roster or it could be his time to move on. The kid is a bit of a monster, with a 6'5" frame and 220 lbs. worth of hitting power, so he'll be a presence, if he can get on full-time.
Could Garret Sparks possibly take the reins of the Toronto Maple Leafs backup goaltending situation? Despite signing a 1-year deal on Friday, it does sound like the Leafs will try to find a veteran backup for Frederik Andersen for the coming season, but Sparks did more than expected last season, when called upon in some tough times for Toronto. Last season, the 23-year old keeper appeared in 17 games for the Leafs, posting 6 wins and 14 points and even picked up a small stretch of starts, while their goaltending situation was really up in the air.
The deal is a two-way deal, which means he will have a much different AHL salary when he is in the minors, rather than being paid his 6-figure deal that he would earn with the big club, which is usually a sign that it would be more likely that he would play down in the minors, if push came to shove. For now, however, he is the backup on the depth chart.
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