Report: Rangers to sign Sam Carrick to three-year, $3 million contract

It looks like the Blueshirts are getting things going early in free agency.

On Monday, Andy Strickland broke the news that the New York Rangers will be signing forward Sam Carrick once the floodgates open at 12 p.m. ET. Per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, it will be a three-year contract, with a $1 million AAV carrying through the end of the 2026-27 season.

Sam Carrick is joining the NY Rangers on a 3-year, $3M total deal.

— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) July 1, 2024

It would be the largest cap hit of Carrick’s career. The Stouffville, Ontario native is coming off the final year of his two-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks in April 2022, which had an AAV of $850,000.

Carrick didn’t play the entirety of that contract with the Ducks. Right before the trade deadline in March, he, along with Adam Henrique, were acquired by the Edmonton Oilers. Carrick ended up playing 16 games during the regular season with the Oilers, scoring two goals and three assists. In total, the 32-year-old appeared in 77 games, notching 10 goals and 16 points. He also played in 10 postseason games with Oilers, as the team made it to the Stanley Cup Final, ultimately losing to the Florida Panthers. Carrick registered an assist in Game 2 of the first round against the Los Angeles Kings.

The Rangers will be the fourth team Carrick has been a part of in his NHL career. He started with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team the took him in the fifth round of the 2010 NHL Draft. After playing just 19 games with the Maple Leafs, he joined the Chicago Blackhawks organization in 2016, though he never played an NHL game in his only season with the franchise. He would start to see his playing time in the big leagues increase starting in 2021-22 in Anaheim, playing over 50 games in each of the last three seasons.

In 240 NHL games, Carrick has scored 28 goals and 25 assists, racking up 316 penalty minutes along the way.