The Rangers' summer of blockbuster moves produced its latest big highlight Friday when the club announced it had reached agreement with restricted free agent defenseman Jacob Trouba on a contract, avoiding salary arbitration with their presumed No. 1 defenseman by locking him up with a reported seven-year, $56 million deal.
The contract, which carries an average annual value of $8 million, pushes the Rangers over the $81.5 million salary cap for now (by $900,000, according to Cap Friendly), with the club having four other restricted free agents _ Pavel Buchnevich, Tony DeAngelo, Brendan Lemieux and Vinni Lettieri _ still to sign. Buchnevich, like Trouba, had filed for salary arbitration.
The Rangers acquired Trouba June 17 from Winnipeg, returning the Jets' first-round pick, No. 20 overall, which had been acquired as part of the Kevin Hayes trade in February. The Rangers also sent the Jets defenseman Neal Pionk, himself a restricted free agent, to complete the deal. (The Jets took defenseman Villie Heinola of Finland with the pick they got back from the Rangers).
