In terms of physical distance, it almost doesn’t qualify as moving. Kevin Rooney, in fact, could conceivably stay in Jersey City, where he lived last season, to commute to his new job.
In terms of an NHL career, though, it’s a big move.
Rooney, the 27-year-old forward from Canton, Mass., who was a captain at Providence College in 2016, was relieved of more than six months of anxiety last Friday, when he signed a two-year contract with the Rangers less than two hours after the NHL opened its free-agent market. He didn’t have to do much research on his new employer and where it’s based.