Rangers Sign Josh Nicholls to Entry-Level Contract

[chilly666]

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with free agent forward Josh Nicholls.

Nicholls, 20, has registered 41 goals and 32 assists for 73 points, along with 41 penalty minutes and a plus-19 rating in 65 games with the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League (WHL) this season. He is tied for fifth in the WHL with a career-high in goals, is tied for fourth in the league in shorthanded goals (four) and 18th in points.

Nicholls leads Saskatoon in goals and shorthanded goals, ranks second in points, fourth in power play goals (five), and is tied for fourth in assists. He has recorded 19 multi-point efforts, including 11 multi-goal performances.

He was named WHL Player of the Week for the week ending December 16, tallying three goals and five assists in four games over the span. On Friday, Nicholls registered his 300th career WHL point with the primary assist on a goal by Rangers’ prospect Shane McColgan in a 4-1 win against the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The 6’2, 196-pounder has skated in 326 career regular season games over five seasons with Saskatoon, registering 132 goals and 169 assists for 301 points, along with 204 penalty minutes and a plus-100 rating. Nicholls established WHL career-highs in assists (53) and points (87) during the 2010-11 season. He tied for 11th in the league in points and 10th in assists that season. Nicholls has also registered eight goals and eight assists for 16 points, along with 18 penalty minutes in 31 career playoff contests with Saskatoon.

The Tsawwassen, British Columbia native was originally selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs as a seventh round choice, 182nd overall, in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

[chilly666]

Nicholls contract with NYR is standard three-year entry level deal, listed with annual cap hit of $925K. Gets SB of $92.5K in each of 3 yrs.

Link

[HordiBrusk29]

I was a little surprised when the Leafs decided not to signed him. Nicholls has a lot of pure offensive skill but he definitely needs to round out his game if he ever hopes to play at the NHL level. Either way it's a low risk situation for the Rangers signing him to an ELC to see if he can pan out.

[bigjack]

Originally Posted by HordiBrusk29

I was a little surprised when the Leafs decided not to signed him. Nicholls has a lot of pure offensive skill but he definitely needs to round out his game if he ever hopes to play at the NHL level. Either way it's a low risk situation for the Rangers signing him to an ELC to see if he can pan out.

Thanks!

[The Dougler]

Originally Posted by HordiBrusk29

I was a little surprised when the Leafs decided not to signed him. Nicholls has a lot of pure offensive skill but he definitely needs to round out his game if he ever hopes to play at the NHL level. Either way it's a low risk situation for the Rangers signing him to an ELC to see if he can pan out.

I was a little surprised myself given his numbers but from what I've heard from people in Saskatoon the negotiations went down to the wire but they couldn't hammer anything out. 925k is probably a good bit more than the Leafs were offering based on where he was picked and that's probably what it came down to. The Leafs have a ton of bodies coming up in the next few years so I'm not too worried about this, a few years ago he would have been a top 10 prospect for the Leafs so they've come a long way. All the best to him though

[HordiBrusk29]

Originally Posted by The Dougler

I was a little surprised myself given his numbers but from what I've heard from people in Saskatoon the negotiations went down to the wire but they couldn't hammer anything out.

I remember hearing the same thing. Either way I don't see it being a huge loss for the Leafs. Like I said before Nicholls is certainly offensively gifted, but he lacks in a lot of other areas. He's anything but a sure given NHL player. In fact I wouldn't be at all surprised if he turns out to be a career minor leaguer. It's difficult to get a good read on him. Sometimes he looks very good and other times he is hardly noticeable.