There has been a lot of chatter about buying out Marc Staal. It makes much more sense to find a trading partner for the veteran defenseman.
The Rangers have several decisions this summer about the shape of the team going into next season. One of the players the Rangers need to assess the viability of is veteran defenseman Marc Staal. Staal is owed $5.7 million per year through 2021, a bloated contract that can only be considered a mistake. The Ranger rebuild cannot include him so on the surface a buyout makes sense.
A buyout won’t be cheap. According to capfriendly.com, if the Rangers buy him out they would be on the hook for big dollars against the cap for a very long time. The buyout cap hit would be $2.05 million next season $3.05 million in 2019-20, $3.85 million in 2020-21 and then $1.35 million for the next three years. The Rangers would be paying for their contractual blunder through the end of the 2024 season.
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A Better Option
Instead of a buyout, the Rangers should do all they can to find a trading partner this summer, even if it means retaining salary. A trade means the Rangers end up with an asset (draft pick or player) even though they keep paying out. There’s one great example of a buyout where a trade would have made more sense.
Obviously, a point of contention here is that Staal would have to agree to a trade. As a veteran with significant stature within the organization, there is little reason for him to agree to a move. The Rangers would need to find a team that would be appetizing enough for the defenseman to waive his no-trade clause.
The Dan Girardi Buyout
Dan Girardi made massive contributions in his Ranger career as a shutdown, shot blocking defenseman. He sacrificed his body for the team and was the cornerstone of the Ranger defense that went to the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. As he aged, his defensive liabilities became a team problem while he continued to play top minutes on the first pairing with Ryan McDonagh. The fact that he signed a six-year contract in 2014 to the tune of $5.5 million a year while the Rangers let Anton Stralman walk to Tampa for less money raised the ire of Ranger fans that only grew louder as time passed and his play worsened.
After last season, the Rangers bought out his contract. That means there will be a cap hit through 2022-23 to the tune of $2.6 this season, $3.6 for the next two seasons and $1.1 million for the next three seasons. That’s six years of an impact on the Ranger salary cap.
As an unrestricted free agent, Dan Girardi then went out and signed a two-year deal with Tampa for $3 million per year. Many Ranger fans claimed that Yzerman overpaid, but that is based on their anti-Girardi sentiments. Steve Yzerman has made his reputation as an astute general manager and he made the deal with hockey common sense.
Girardi’s Season
Dan Girardi has had a bounce-back season with the star-studded Tampa Bay Lightning. He has four goals and ten assists and is +21 on a very good team. He is averaging 17:19 minutes and 23 shifts per game as a second pair defenseman. That is well behind the 26 minutes per game for Victor Hedman and the 21 minutes per game for Anton Stralman.
Girardi’s possession stats are still not the best, but his even strength Corsi 48.7% is his best in five years. He leads the team with 134 blocked shots.
Dan Girardi is having a good season. His role with the team is well defined and he is not playing above his ability. His $3 million salary is about average for a second pair defenseman in the NHL. Yzerman definitely did not overpay.
Was a Buyout Necessary?
Why a buyout and not a trade? There were two factors that forced a Girardi buyout as well and also the Derek Stepan deal. Both players had no-trade clauses that kicked in on July 1. With the expansion draft, there was as an additional wrinkle that affected the trading season. The Rangers had to buy out Girardi by July 1
It would have made much more sense to find a taker for Girardi while assuming some of his contracts. The Rangers could have saved cap space by trading Girardi to Tampa and retaining $2.5 million. It’s important to note that the cap hit doesn’t reflect the actual dollar figure a player makes when he is bought out. It costs owner James Dolan $1.1 million per year in actual dollars paid to Girardi, far less than the punitive salary cap impact.
Is Trading Marc Staal an Option?
Is Marc Staal trade-able? Could the Rangers find a trading partner if they were willing to eat as much as $2-3 million of his salary per year? I’m sure that Jeff Gorton will be looking to make precisely that kind of deal this summer. If a 36-year old Ron Hainsey was worth $3 million a year to Toronto would Boston or Florida or Vegas find 31-year old Marc Staal an attractive addition to a young defense for less than that?
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Marc Staal has a No Movement Clause so he would have to agree to any kind of trade. As for waiving that NMC, the clincher would be when Marc Staal finishes his round of golf in June and settles down to watch Anton Stralman, Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi playing for the Stanley Cup.