The New York Rangers announced today that they had signed Wisconsin's Ryan McDonagh. It took some convincing to get McDonagh to give up his senior season, but I guess the Rangers came through with the promise of a helicopter fly-by, and he ended up signing the deal. McDonagh had three really solid years at Wisconsin. His offense numbers weren't particularly special last year, but he was incredible in the defensive end.

There was a bit of outrage from Rangers fans at McDonagh not immediately signing a contract, but it seems understandable. The big sticking point for McDonagh was the opportunity for playing time in the NHL right away. At this year's NCAA's West Regional, Mike Eaves made an interesting point, saying that there had been some former players that left school early and found out spending a year in the minor leagues wasn't as enjoyable as spending an extra year in college. Meanwhile, teammate Blake Geoffrion turned down a contract to stay for an extra year, and it ended up working out well for him. But then the Rangers went out and spent over a million dollars on a guy that hasn't scored a goal in years, so, you know, maybe competition for ice time in New York won't be that tough.