New York Rangers: Welcome to the new NHL
By Steve Paulus
There is only one problem with the current formula for success in the NHL. It doesn’t always work. Will it work for the New York Rangers?
The New York Rangers are about to experience firsthand what it is like to be a successful team in the NHL. It’s a very simple formula, driven by the salary cap. You surround a handful of high priced stars with moderately priced veterans, inexpensive youth and bargain depth players. After a rebuild that has lasted less than two years, the Rangers are almost there.
The high priced stars are obvious. Artemi Panarin and Henrik Lundqvist take up 25% of the team’s cap hit. Jacob Trouba is expected to sign for about $7.5 million. Add him in and the three stars on the team are taking up 34% of the cap hit. The fourth highest salary belongs to Kevin Shattenkirk and his $6.65 million payday brings the top four total to 42%. Yes, 42% of the total payroll goes to four players. That leaves $47 million to spread among the remaining 19 players on the major league roster.
The Entry Level Contract players include Lias Andersson, Filip Chytil, Brett Howden, Alexandar Georgiev, Vitali Ktravtsov, Adam Fox, Libor Hajek and Kaapo Kakko. Those eight players will make about $7.5 million or 9% of the payroll.
Of the “moderately priced players,” you have to include Mika Zibanejd, Chris Kreider , Brady Skjei, Ryan Strome, Jesper Fast and whatever bridge deals Pavel Buchnevich, Tony DeAngelo and Brendan Lemieux sign for. That group should come in around $29 million.
That leaves about $10.5 million left for three players. And that’s where the trouble comes in. No team can afford to pay out big contracts unless they are willing to fill the gaps with inexpensive depth players. They’ve already committed $11 million to Marc Staal and Brendan Smith and that’s why a buyout of Smith, Staal or Shattenkirk is inevitable unless Jeff Gorton can work a miracle deal and offload a contract.
That’s also why an extension for Chris Kreider is probably not going to happen. If Kreider is going to seek a Kevin Hayes-like $7 million salary as has been rumored, he is as good as gone. If he is looking for a deal with Zibanejad money ($5.3 million), he could remain.
It also means that all of the RFA’s will be definitely getting bridge deals. With Buchnevich filing for arbitration, that could be trouble for the team if it goes the route and he is awarded more than the team has budgeted.
It’s why a Gregg McKegg is going to replace Jimmy Vesey in the lineup. With him making $750k, he represents a $2 million savings. It’s why when either Kreider or Namestnikov or Strome get dealt, the replacement will be a a league minimum salaried Boo Nieves. His $700k will save as much as $2.5 to $4 million.
The good news is when all of the dust settles and the team gets under the cap, they will have all of those young players locked in at cheap rates for two or three more years and they will always be able to find the McKeggs and Nieves of the world through free agency.
The trouble begins when those young players re ready to get paid. Even though the team will be rid of Lundqvist, Smith, Shattenkirk and Staal’s massive contracts in 2021-22 it will still be a task to fit under the cap. And with any buyouts, the pain will be extended for years at a lower rate.
For several years, the frontloaded contract model has worked. Pittsburgh, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington all adhered to that philosophy and took home the cup. It’s a model that many teams are following. How has it worked for them?