The NHL doesn’t keep “bruises caused by pucks” as an official statistic, but if they did, new Seattle Kraken defenseman Ryan Lindgren would surely be among the league leaders.
The Kraken this week signed the 27-year-old from Minneapolis to a four-year, $18 million free agent contract. Ryan had 128 blocks in 72 games for the Rangers and Avalanche last season, and 593 in his career.
Glenn Dreyfuss, DJLR: “When a puck’s flying our way, most mere mortals like us would do everything we could to get out of the way. You make it your business to get in the way. How do you learn to do that, and isn’t it a painful way to make a living?”
Ryan Lindgren, Kraken defenseman: “Maybe coming from a family of goalies. My dad was a goalie, my two older brothers both played goalie. Just might be in my blood a little bit, you know?
“It can be painful at times, but, you know, I just try to do anything I can to help the team. I spent a lot of a lot of time on the penalty kill over the last couple of years. I think that’s a big part of (the PK), too, is getting your body in front of the shot and doing whatever you can to help the goalie.”
Ryan’s brother Andrew was a college goalie at St. John’s University in Minnesota. Brother Charlie is a Washington Capitals goalie, a Metro Division rival when Ryan patrolled the blue line for the Blueshirts.
Glenn: “Is Charlie happy that you’re staying in the Western Conference?”
Ryan: “It was always fun to try to try to put one by him, which I never did. We’ll still play two times (per season) the next couple of years. So there’s still a couple of opportunities. But, you know, he’s just real happy for me. He’s been such a big part of my life and my hockey career. He was with me this whole process.”
Lindgren has an easy explanation about why he pursued a career on defense, not in goal.
“I tried it when I was really young, probably five or six years old. I think I let in ten or 11 goals. After the final goal, I kind of laid there on the ice, was crying. My dad had to come out, get me up. And ever since then, I never put on the pads again.”
Debating Lindgren’s Dollars & Term
Was Lindgren a wise signing at an average annual value of $4.5 million? Two writers who covered his most recent team, the Colorado Avalanche, starkly disagree.
Graham Tidetke of Mile High Sticking I think misses the point by focusing on Lindgren’s point totals. “He put up two goals and one assist with Colorado during the regular season and continued his lack of production into the postseason, with just three assists in seven games against the Dallas Stars. That’s just not the type of production that the Avalanche want.”
MHS’ Nestor Quixtan has the better take regarding the stay-at-home defenseman. “It’s Lindgren’s value away from the offensive side that marks his value. According to PuckPedia, Lindgren gets high marks for hockey IQ, a 90, to be exact. Lindgren also gets top marks for consistency (90), defensive zone starts (89), and penalty kill (90).
“Based on the numbers, PuckPedia projects Ryan Lindgren as a second-pairing D-man. The Athletic valued Lindgren’s next contract as a three-year deal with a cap hit of $4.02 million per season. That number sounds reasonable when considering the going rate for mid-tier defensemen around the league.”
What Seattle didn’t need more of was offense from its defense – Brandon Montour and Vince Dunn have that covered. They needed what Lindgren provides – more defense from their defense, and improvement on the penalty kill. It’s worth noting that $4.5 million was the AAV of Lindgren’s last contract as well. Given that teams always need to pay more to sign a free agent – because it’s a blind bidding situation – this is a solid pickup for the Kraken.