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Rangers agree to terms with Drew Fortescue on entry-level contract
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- Rangers agree to terms with Drew Fortescue on entry-level contract
Peter Carr/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Drew Fortescue , the New York Rangers' third-round pick (No. 93) in the 2023 NHL Draft, agreed to terms on a three-year, entry-level contract with the Blueshirts on Saturday.
The 20-year-old defenseman signed one day after his third season with Boston College ended with a 4-3 overtime loss to Connecticut in the Hockey East semifinals. He finished the season with a career-high 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in 36 games.
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The native of Pearl River, New York, played 112 games in three seasons for BC and had 33 points (eight goals, 25 assists) with 125 penalty minutes, including a team-high 47 this season.
According to The Athletic, Fortescue will report directly to the Rangers, meaning his contract will begin right away and he would be able to become a restricted free agent in the summer of 2028. By burning the first year of his three-year deal — something that former BC teammate Gabe Perreault also did after signing at the end of last season — Fortescue can appear in NHL games during the rest of the season.
With the Rangers beginning a stretch of five games in eight days against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden, it's not impossible that Fortescue could make his NHL debut in the very near future. The coaching staff will want to see him in a few practices before making a decision on putting him in the lineup.
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He was teammates with Perreault at Boston College for two years, and before that with the United States National Team Development Program. Fortescue and Perreault helped BC reach the NCAA National Championship Game as freshmen in 2024, and they played key roles when the United States won consecutive gold medals at the World Junior Championship in 2024 and 2025.
Peter Carr/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Fortescue spoke with the Rangers last summer about signing but ultimately decided he'd be better off playing another season at BC.
"Right now I'm just focused on getting bigger and stronger," Fortescue said last summer. "My plan is to continue to work on that and be ready for the following year."
Like Perreault, Fortescue is one of New York's top prospects . A left-shot defenseman tasked with shutting down the opposition throughout his tenure at BC and during the World Juniors, Fortescue is right up there with 2024 first-round pick E.J. Emery as a top defenseman prospect in the Rangers pipeline.
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Unlike Perreault, a highly-skilled forward who's currently drawing rave reviews with the Rangers in his rookie season, Fortescue plays a very quietly effective game in a shutdown role on the blue line.
"Since arriving at BC, Fortescue has been on the first defense pair for his entire time there. He showed more offense this season, but largely sacrificed that part of his game to help the team in a more defensive role," the Prospect Park's Jess Rubenstein told Forever Blueshirts. "His game is not too different from that of top-pair Rangers D-man Vladislav Gavrikov , only Fortescue might be a better passer. He isn't overly physical, but could be a better overall defender than Emery. Fortescue also will not need as much time in Hartford before he is NHL-ready, though his offense needs to do some catching up.
"He's most likely a second-pair defender one day with the Rangers, given that Gavrikov has a seven-year deal."
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Fortescue is the second collegiate star to sign recently with the Rangers. They also agreed to terms on a two-year deal with Brody Lamb on March 12. The 22-year-old forward was a fourth-round pick by the Rangers in the 2021 draft and played four years with the University of Minnesota, where he was captain this season. Lamb scored his first professional goal Saturday with the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack in a 6-3 loss to the Toronto Marlies.
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