Rangers Come To Terms With RFA Braden Schneider
BREAKING: The Rangers sign Braden Schneider to a one-year deal. pic.twitter.com/ZE8ccv6F47
— PuckEmpire (@puckempire) July 13, 2026
It's a $5.5 million AAV for the former first-round pick (19th overall, 2020 NHL Draft). He just wrapped a two-year deal with a $2.2M AAV. It's a pretty nice deal for Schneider, who was projected by AFP Analytics to land only a $4M salary on a one-year contract. Had it been a longer-term agreement, he was projected to hit the $6M mark.
Schneider has had his name on the rumor mill, but whether this signing changes that, remains to be seen. The Rangers decided not to do a two-year deal, which would have walked the 24-year-old d-man right into unrestricted free agency.
Schneider set some personal bests this past season, including logging 20:27 of ice time per game. He also handed out 163 hits and blocked 141 shots, both figures leading the team. But his offensive production was meager, with just two goals and 18 points, and his underlying metrics were not great.
After the Blueshirts acquired Sean Durzi in the Vincent Trocheck trade, it would appear to relegate the right-shot Schneider back to the third pairing, behind Adam Fox and Durzi on the right side. The $5.5M is a hefty number for a third-pairing D, but perhaps he still holds trade value as a young, second-pairing blueliner for other teams. Right-shot defenseman are always in demand.