- Rangers signed defenseman William Trudeau to a one-year, two-way deal
- The 23-year-old came over from Montreal in the June 26 Brett Berard trade
- Read below for the contract terms and where Trudeau fits on the blue line
The Rangers added another piece to their blue line on Monday.
New York signed defenseman William Trudeau to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal carries an $850,000 cap hit at the NHL level and pays him $200,000 in the AHL.
Trudeau landed in New York a couple of weeks ago. The Rangers grabbed the 23-year-old from Montreal on June 26, sending forward Brett Berard the other way.
He is a left-shot defenseman the Canadiens took in the fourth round, 113th overall, back in 2021. Most of his pro time has come with the Laval Rocket, where he averaged right around 22 points a season across four AHL years.
Now he slots into a Rangers system that suddenly runs deep on the back end. New York already brought in Marcus Pettersson earlier this month, and the club has leaned into a younger, faster look under Chris Drury. Trudeau fits that mold as a cheap, mobile blueliner who can push for a spot or give the team cover in Hartford.
The two-way structure tells you where things stand. Trudeau will have to earn his way up, but at 23 with four AHL seasons behind him, he is knocking on the door of a full-time NHL job.
The Rangers already paid a real price to land Trudeau, giving up a young scorer in Berard to get him. Locking him in on a cheap one-year deal keeps that puck-moving depth in the system while the retool rolls on.
