New York Rangers: GM Sather In Salary Cap Trouble?

With undetermined rosters the New York Rangers exact salary cap spending is impossible to predict until final cuts are made at the end of preseason.

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Eyes On Isles

Depending on who you ask or which paper or blog you read. The New York Rangers may or may not have a serious problem with the salary cap this season. If and when

signs

, the New York Rangers will be left with about a million dollars as a cushion (plus or minus 200,000) against the cap. The figures displayed on salary cap sites like Capgeek are a little misleading since we can only make our best guess about who will be on the New York Rangers roster on opening night. It’s impossible to predict who the coaching staff will choose to make up the lineup when the set rosters are announced. New York Rangers are in pretty good shape.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

"The New York Rangers have four million in bonuses they can add  to Entry Level contracts and players on thirty-five plus contracts."

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If a player comes along that

wants during the summer he is able to spend ten percent over the salary cap. Or close to seven   ($6.9 ) million. He doesn’t have to be under the sixty-nine million cap until right before the season starts in October. He also has four million via the performance bonus cushion. He can use this bonus cushion on entry-level contracts. These bonuses are also available to thirty-five plus contracts to players thirty-five years of age or older. Both contracts are free of cap charge and do not affect the teams spending compared to the upper limit of the salary cap. That means there’s close to eleven ($10.8 mil) million Glen Sather has to work with without taking any NHL sanctioned penalties.

The New York Rangers can use easily attainable performance bonuses to sign unrestricted free agents or a kid like big Kevin Hayes. Kevin Hayes has said he doesn’t plan on signing with the Chicago Blackhawks and will become a free agent on August 15, 2014. John Moore will likely take until the end of the summer to get a contract worked out. He has no leverage in his negotiations without arbitration rights. He’s also a lefty and left-handed defenseman are fairly easy to find like water in the ocean. Glen Sather also has depth players to choose from at defense via this summers free agent signings of Matt Hunwick and Mike Kostka. One or both are slated to be the teams seventh and eighth defenseman. That’s if Alain Vigneault wants two extra defenseman on the twenty-three man roster.

"Did the New York Rangers spend wrong in signing Derick Brassard long-term? Should Mats Zuccarello have gotten the longer contract instead of Brassard?"

Many fans feel Glen Sather and the New York Rangers signed Derick Brassard to a bad contract and Mats Zuccarello should have gotten the longer term deal. Derick Brassard is still very young. At twenty-six years old, he played well in his first full season under new head coach Alain Vigneault. He’s a proven playoff performer as the leading New York Rangers scorer in the playoffs the last two seasons combined. Both Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello will have larger roles on the team this season on the top six. Their raises were well deserved as long as both play up to their abilities and score more with the added minutes and responsibility.

"The New York Rangers took a risk giving Mats Zuccarello a one year deal."

Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

Glen Sather’ stance with Mats Zuccarello as he plays in his second season as a full-time Nation Hockey League player was a conservative one. It’s a “show me” type of one year contract that Mats Zuccarello recently signed. Glen Sather and Mats Zuccarello’s agent could not agree on a long-term deal before the arbitration hearing. Both sides will likely continue to try to work out a longer term contract during the season as long as he continues to play the way he did last season. The New York Rangers will go into this season with some rookies looking to make the team out of camp. They’ll have to battle hard to make the team for opening night. Graduating young players to the National hockey league is always a positive for the future of a team. The young kids get ice time with the big club and the team has contributors on cheaper Entry Level Contracts. They will have to show that the National Hockey League is not too big for them. J.T. Miller‘s name comes to mind and so does Jesper Fast. Both rookies are on the cusp of making the New York Rangers roster full-time. This season or next.

"The New York Rangers like the best teams in the NHL have young players ready to come up to the show every year as departing players price themselves into the free agent market."

Good teams like the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings have young rookies that have contributed to the teams concept. Helping to win hockey games. The New York Rangers need young players to contribute every game to help with the tight salary cap situation. Rookies or any young players on two-way contracts can be sent down and called back without fear of  loosing them to waiver claims by other teams. There’s no compensation when loosing a player on a one-way contract to waiver claims by other teams!

"With the summer cap allowance and the bonus cushion, the New York Rangers are in good shape against the cap this season and set up well for next."

Glen Sather and the New York Rangers, have the rest of August and training camp in September to get under the upper cap limit. If that means using waivers to cut players or hide them in the minors, management will be under the sixty-nine million dollar cap before regular season game one. The New York Rangers are in good shape and the roster appears to be set. There are a couple of weaknesses the team feels they can overcome with their teams current identity. Management has methodically built this team that is primed for another long playoff run next spring. Credit must be given to the managerial staff for working under a lower cap than originally expected. Causing the loss of some very good players that needed to be replaced.