from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

Here is another reason, perhaps the most significant one, that the Rangers won’t be signing impending restricted free agent Tony DeAngelo to a multi-year contract and instead are seeking to trade the 24-year-old righty defenseman:

That is because a contract of longer than one year for DeAngelo would all but ensure losing 20-year-old righty defenseman Nils Lundkvist to unrestricted free agency on June 2, 2022, without ever getting the Swede to Broadway.

Teams hold exclusive rights to European-born draft picks through the fourth June 1 following their selection, per the CBA. Lundkvist was selected 28th overall in 2018 with the first-rounder obtained from Tampa Bay in the package for Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller. So, the Rangers hold his rights through June 1, 2022.

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