The Rangers officially agreed to terms with Bobby Trivigno on Friday after eyeing the college free-agent standout for some time.
Trivigno, an undrafted winger out of UMass, traveled to Hartford on Friday and is hopeful to play for the Wolf Pack on Saturday. He will reunite with former UMass teammate Zac Jones in Hartford.
The East Setauket, N.Y., native will be on an amateur tryout contract for the remainder of 2021-22 before his two-year, $1.665 million deal — which includes a $92,500 signing bonus — kicks in next season. His minor-league salary is the maximum at $80,000 per season.
In four years at UMass, Trivigno was at the heart of the hockey program’s transformation into a powerhouse. He was named the Most Outstanding Player in the Minutemen’s first national championship in 2021 and guided the team to back-to-back Hockey East titles the past two seasons. In addition to serving as captain this past season as a senior, Trivigno finished his collegiate career with 53 goals and 78 assists with a plus-73 rating in 139 games.
“He’s [done] the same thing every single day for four years and he’s pulled the program forward,” UMass head coach Greg Carvel told The Post in a recent interview.
The 23-year-old was named this season’s Hockey East Player of the Year, as well as a Hobey Baker Award Top 10 finalist. Trivigno also became just the fourth player to win the Walter Brown Award, given annually to the top American-born Division I college hockey player in New England, in back-to-back seasons.
The Rangers now have four UMass alumni within the organization, including trade-deadline acquisitions Frank Vatrano and Justin Braun, as well as 2019 draft pick Zac Jones and Trivigno.
“I would say the biggest thing is managing my emotions,” Trivigno said of how he’s evolved as a player. “Freshman year I was pretty over the line of where I’d like to play. I’m a pest on the ice. You have to be physical and annoy people, but you can’t take penalties because that hurts your team. That’s led to me being able to develop in other areas of my game, whether that’s scoring or playing on the PK or whatnot.”
Ryan Strome skated by himself before the Rangers’ 3-0 loss to the Islanders at the Garden on Friday, but the second-line center missed his third consecutive game with a lower-body injury.
The Rangers rolled with the same lineup for a second straight game, but the laboratory on ice was still in full effect.
Gallant switched the lines up during the game, putting Filip Chytil in the middle of Artemi Panarin and Andrew Copp on the second line and dropping Dryden Hunt down to the right wing of Alexis Lafreniere and Barclay Goodrow.
Panarin also logged 1:10 of ice time with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Gallant said Kaapo Kakko and Kevin Rooney, who are both still on injured reserve, will miss at least the next two games.
“After that, it’s a possibility,” Gallant said. “Getting better, for sure.”