Why the New York Rangers Should Waive Tanner Glass

Dec 16, 2014; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames center Lance Bouma (17) tangles with New York Rangers left wing Tanner Glass (15) at Scotiabank Saddledome. Rangers won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

Tanner Glass was signed over the summer by the New York Rangers to a 3 year contract worth $1.45 million a season. With the season more than half way completed, Tanner Glass has been a bust. When the Rangers signed Glass most of us knew he wasn’t here to score goals, indeed he was brought here to bring physical presence to the 4th line. At Glass’s expense he should be able to atleast generate some scoring chances and help his line spend sometime in the offensive zone. Tanner Glass has brought somewhat of a physical presence, but in every other category he’s been a relatively poor player.

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This is unacceptable, especially in the 2013-2014 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, according to many stats, Glass was the worst player in the NHL. I have one question, was Rangers GM Glen Sather aware of this? Because this is mind boggling to me how in the world Glass was given a 3 year contract to even begin with. Normally an enforcer like Tanner Glass is given a 1-2 year contract at most, because there are plenty of players enforcers/4th line players who could bring more to the table than Glass, take less of a contract term, and less of a salary cap hit. This season Tanner Glass has one assist and currently has a plus minus of -15. To add to the frustration of Tanner Glass this year, this stat below reported by Adam Herman on January 31st completely blew my mind.

Now I’m not saying players who are strictly provided to bring a physical presence are all useless players, but you need to be a reason why your team wins on a few nights. When Glass is in the lineup he may not be the reason why the Rangers would lose, but he’s never the reason why they would win. For example the Rangers had physical players last season on their 4th line, players such as Derek Dorsett and Dan Carcillo. Derek Dorsett wasn’t the typical huge 4th liner that runs around hitting everybody, but he played a big game. Not only was Dorsett physical, but he was good skater, a good forechecker, and was willing to stick up for his teammates at his 6″0 size. Dan Carcillo (a player known for primarily his physicality) wasn’t a player offensively skilled like Dorsett, but he was a player you just noticed in many games. Whether it was antagonizing the opposing team, being a pest infront of the net, dropping the gloves or even scoring a timely goal, he was noticed.

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Dan Carcillo has only 55o,000 dollar cap hit with only one year left on his deal. The Rangers could have easily resigned Carcillo and reserved some cap space with a short term contract. Derek Dorsett has one year left at 1.63 million, and he could have been kept in the summer for less than a 200,000 cap hit of Glass’s 3 year 1.45 million dollar contract.

Now with all of this being accounted for Tanner Glass should absolutely be placed on waivers. I think it’s only a matter of time before that happens, because nobody will claim Glass because of his contract. If the Rangers place Glass on waivers that will clear up 1.45 million worth of cap space for this season and they can make a trade for a rental player or somebody that can help their playoff run at higher salary. In my opinion it’s only a matter of time before he’s placed on waivers in his 3 year term, but it may not be this season.

Head Coach Alain Vigneault  also seems to be loyal to Tanner Glass for whatever reason, but the Rangers are a much better team when Glass is not in the lineup. Glass hurts the Rangers way more than he helps them and is playing over players he shouldn’t be playing over. If the Rangers care about their playoff run this year they either keep Glass scratched or put him on waivers.