With ample cap space this summer, the New York Rangers could look to take advantage of other teams in a more dire situation.
One of the side effects of rebuilding a team’s roster is having the flexibility to make the luxury of choices. The New York Rangers sit with around $20 million in cap space going into this summer and have the opportunity to make moves this summer. Once the team gets its own house in order in terms of restricted free agents, it could stand to use its cap space to gain more assets.
Whether or not the team tries to accumulate more assets will come down to if the front office views the team as ready to compete next season. While that may seem a bit premature, adding the second overall pick and Vitali Kravtsov to the Rangers’ top six could move the team’s timeline up.
However, if the executives feel that the team is still a year away from competing, there is room on the books to take on a bad contract or two to acquire future assets. Although rarer in the NHL, salary dumping is commonplace in the NBA and a useful tool for teams caught in a bind up against the cap.
In the case of these following teams, they’re caught in such a rough salary situation that the Rangers may be able to trade for a quality player and help the rebuild all in one fell swoop.