Alexis Lafrenière agreed to a two-year, $4.65 million contract with the New York Rangers on Wednesday.
Lafrenière will therefore count for just over $2.3 million under the salary cap for each of the next two seasons.
The native of Saint-Eustache, Que., was the first pick of the 2020 draft. Since his NHL debut, Lafrenière has amassed 100 points, including 49 goals and 51 assists, in 243 regular season and playoff games .
A sign of his progress, he set a career-high 39 points last season.
Lafrenière, who turns 22 in October just before the start of the season, was one of the last restricted free agents yet to sign a contract. Trevor Zegras (Anaheim), Shane Pinto (Ottawa) and Morgan Frost (Philadelphia) are among nine other players still without a contract.
The Rangers are counting on Lafrenière to be part of the young nucleus of players who will allow them to claim the Stanley Cup. They made the playoffs last season, but lost in the first round to the New Jersey Devils.
Earlier this summer, New York signed defenseman K’Andre Miller, also a restricted free agent, to a two-year contract worth $7.7 million.