Nils Lundkvist officially part of Rangers’ young defensive core

The Rangers have added another key defenseman prospect to their already blossoming defensive core.

Swedish blueliner Nils Lundkvist signed a three-year entry level contract with a cap hit of $925,000 and an entry-level performance of $850,000, the team announced Thursday. With an average-annual value base of $832,500 plus the entry-level bonuses, Lundkvist, if he makes the NHL roster, would own a cap hit of $1.775 million. If Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, Vitali Kravtsov, Morgan Barron, K’Andre Miller, Adam Fox and Lundkvist are all on the opening-night roster, the Rangers will be charged $3.225 million over the bonus allowance. Lundkvist was also awarded the same entry-level bonus as Fox, Kravtsov and Barron.