The New York Rangers brought in David Desharnais to fill a void down the middle in the bottom-six, with a one-year, $1 million contract. They were lacking center depth after their third line center Kevin Hayes was promoted to pivot the second line and fourth line center Oscar Lindberg was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft.
He was a low-risk signing that at least in theory, could fit their needs. The most noticeable problem in that, was that both Hayes and Lindberg were two-way players that were able to play in defensive roles.