In the Kraken’s first move on Day 1 of the 2025 NHL Free Agency period, general manager Jason Botterill added significant depth and playoff experience to the defensemen corps by agreeing to terms with 27-year-old defenseman Ryan Lindgren to a four-year contract at an annual average value (AAV) of $4.5 million and $18 million total.
Lindgren joins at the ideal age to be a mentor to younger D-men, such as Ryker Evans and upcoming prospects, while arriving at the prime age to build a winner with the Kraken veterans and younger players.
“We’ve talked a lot about being stronger to play against in front of both nets,” Botterill said, referring to Lindgren as a "heart and soul player" who does whatever it takes to win. “It’s one of the reasons we went after (Mason) Marchment in the trade category and then why we went after Lindgren in free agency here. Just his physicality, his compete out there. Helping our (penalty kill), which needs to get better this year for sure, too.
“And then you just look at his track record of playing in big games and knowing what it takes to have success in the playoffs. We’re certainly excited to bring his culture to our organization.”
Botterill said a big goal for new coach Lane Lambert is to create competition for spots throughout the roster.
“So, whether it’s left or right, we wanted to bring that element into our group,” he said of the team’s defensemen. “We have some defensemen who can play the left side with left shots who can also play the right side. We’ll figure those things out as we move forward from that standpoint, but we really want to bring some competition.”
Lambert is no doubt familiar with Lindgren's competitiveness, grit and special team skills, facing the 6-foot, 194-pound defenseman as a divisional rival playing for the New York Rangers. Lindgren played five full seasons as a top-four defender for the New York Rangers, with young star defenseman Adam Fox his most frequent partner. The two D-men were rookies together during the 2019-20 season.
Lindgren was traded to postseason contender Colorado in March as the Rangers were trending not to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Lindgren was heading into unrestricted free agency. He appeared in 43 playoff games with the Rangers and another seven this past spring with the Avalanche.
Lindgren’s hockey roots start with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program and two straight IIHF World Junior Championships (winning gold as a 17-year-old in 2017 and captaining the bronze-medalist squad in 2018). The Burnsville, MN, native was a standout defenseman at Minnesota, playing a big role in the Golden Gophers winning the Big Ten regular season championship in 2016-17. He joined AHL Hartford for 10 games after his NCAA season and the trade to the Rangers. He debuted in the NHL for five games during his rookie AHL season and started the 2019-20 at Hartford, but was called up after nine games to secure a spot on the NYR blue line for good.
Lindgren set career highs in assists (18) and points (22) and tied his personal best in goals (four) in 72 regular-season games last season. He paced the Rangers in shorthanded time on ice while ranking second to Fox among NYR defensemen in assists and points.
It’s notable and a testament to Lindgren’s physicality and grit that he's a two-time recipient (2020-21 and 2022-23) of NYR’s Players’ Player Award, given annually to the Ranger who, as selected by his teammates, “best exemplifies what it means to be a team player.” In 2022-23, Lindgren was voted by fans as the winner of the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, awarded annually to the Ranger who "goes above and beyond the call of duty.”
Another fun fact: Lindgren was one of three players and two future draft choices moved to the Rangers in exchange for veteran forward Rick Nash as part of the 2018 trade. While Lindgren might have been considered a bit of a project as an 18-year-old prospect, NHLers Ryan Spooner and Matt Beleskey played a total of 77 games for the Rangers, and the draft choices never played for New York. Lindgren manned the blue line for 387 NYR regular-season games before the trade to Colorado last spring. Over the six seasons, he averaged roughly 20 minutes of time on ice during the regular season and playoffs.
