How will the New York Rangers look on opening night?

The New York Rangers line-up for opening night is all but set in stone

Looking over the New York Rangers roster provides a simple case of what you see is what you get.  Without additional transactions to free up more salary cap space, the Rangers have very little wiggle room to make any roster changes. In fact, the team may not even be able to both retain all of their restricted free agents (RFA) and remains cap compliant.

With little freedom to make any additional roster changes, the opening night’s line-up is already beginning to take shape. For better or worse, the team will not look that much different from the team that skated in the Stanley Cup Qualifier this past August. There are still decisions to be made with the RFA’s and some familiar faces have moved on, but the core dynamic of this club is already etched into the ice.

The Rangers were relatively quiet during the opening days of free agency, and with good reason. The team holds $12,994,444 in buyout payments, creating unusable dead cap space. This total is equal to 15.94% of their total allowable salary cap expenditure. The Rangers have really painted themselves into a corner with their decisions to sever contracts prematurely. If there are no more buyouts conducted, the Rangers will finally be free of their self inflicted dead cap issues following the 2022-23 season.

The New York Rangers salary cap concerns do not end with their buyout payments. The team’s three RFA’s have all filed for salary arbitration, with both Tony DeAngelo and Ryan Strome coming off career years and expected to receive significant raises over their 2019-20 salaries. Additionally, the team could potentially exceed the upper cap limit of $81.5 million due to the performance bonuses attached to their many entry level contracts (ELC). Lets take a look at how the team got here.