Rangers sign Biron

One of the several intriguing unrestricted free agent goalies came off the market just after the signing period began Thursday when Martin Biron signed a two-year contract to be Henrik Lundqvist’s backup with the New York Rangers.

Biron, who reportedly will earn $1.8 million over the two years, doesn’t necessarily have to change addresses since he spent last season with the New York Islanders. He had a tough year, going only 9-14-4 with a 3.27 goals-against average and .896 save percentage for the struggling Islanders.

The Rangers identified a backup goalie as one of their major needs in order to take some of the workload off of Lundqvist’s shoulders. Biron, formerly a No. 1 with Philadelphia, will be asked to do that after Steve Valiquette and Alex Auld struggled in that role last season. Lundqvist has played in at least 70 games in each of the past four seasons.

Biron, who debuted with Buffalo during the 1995-96 season, has appeared in 462 NHL games and is 208-176-25 with 26 shutouts, a 2.63 GAA and .910 save percentage. He served as the Flyers No. 1 goalie from 2007-09, taking them to the Eastern Conference Final in 2008.

Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl

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