A possible cap escape for the New York Rangers
It is no secret that the New York Rangers will be up pressed tightly against the salary cap for next season. They still have options if they need to find some cap space.
According to cap friendly, if the cap ceiling remains the same the New York Rangers are projected to have cap space of $15,702,701 that must be used to re-sign or replace unrestricted free agents Chris Kreider and Jesper Fast, as well as arbitration-eligible restricted free agents, Ryan Strome, Brendan Lemieux, Tony DeAngelo, and Alexander Georgiev. They will also have to fill an additional two roster spots if they decide to not re-sign Michael Haley and Greg McKegg. It is clear that around $16,000,000 will not be enough to sign the talent involved and inevitably, one or more of them will have to be let go.
So, how do the Rangers clear some cap space so they can afford to sign their players? There are two options and they both involve trades.
Option 1: Trade players they cannot afford
The most popular options are for the New York Rangers to trade their more veteran talents such as Kreider, Strome, and or Fast in exchange for draft picks and prospects to Cup contending teams at this year’s NHL trade deadline in February. The same could be said for somewhat younger players such as Georgiev and DeAngelo at the deadline or over the summer, as they will still be RFA’s with multiple years left on their deals and are players who will face a logjam of talent in their respective positions.
Many believe that some of these players are guaranteed to be goners at this year’s trade deadline, however, the Rangers should closely evaluate the offers they receive as well as what they are willing to give up. It is widely known that this upcoming year’s draft is considered to be deep with talent and many teams may shy away from trading away their first round picks, even if in playoff contention.
For instance, say the Rangers were unable to garner a first-round pick and a medium level prospect for Kreider. A lesser return would be considered below his projected value. While drafting players in the first few rounds is extremely important to the future of hockey organizations, there is no guarantee these players will pan out (as with Lias Andersson). If offers involving draft picks at the deadline is underwhelming for the Rangers I firmly believe they should go with an alternative route.
Option 2: Package players to get big salaries off the books
I believe that there is another alternative that would relieve the dire cap situation, but will not bring as great a return back to the team. In that case, the Rangers would trade a high level talent, like Chris Kreider, packaged with Brendan Smith or Marc Staal. The return would be less, but the cap relief would be worth it.
Staal is currently signed with the Rangers through next season and will account for $5,700,000 against the cap. While an adequate defenseman and solid veteran presence, his cap hit against the team is detrimental as he has not been able to perform at a level that would justify that salary. Another benefit of a Staal departure would be that it would free up ice time for younger players like Libor Hajek returns from injury or a prospect such as K’Andre Miller or Joey Keane. If still with the with team, Staal’s presence will cause a dilemma.
It’s the same story with Brendan Smith. He is also signed with the Rangers through next season and will account for $4,350,000 against the cap. Smith has made the transition from defense to forward this year and while he has been solid as a fourth line winger, it is still far too much to be paying for someone in this position. Similar to Staal, he is getting in the way of younger talent being called up and while there is not a tremendous amount of ice time on the fourth line, it still should be put to better use.
There are contractual issues that could make this difficult. Staal possesses a full no movement clause while Smith also has a modified no movement clause. You may wonder, what the purpose of considering them for a trade is if they have such restrictions, however, as we’ve seen recently, such clauses have been waved before.
Patrick Marleau case
During the most recent off-season, one of the biggest stories was the trade of Patrick Marleau, a conditional first round pick and a seventh-round pick all to the Carolina Hurricanes, only for the Maple Leafs to receive a sixth round pick. Marleau was in the last year of a deal worth $6,250,000 and had a no movement clause that he waived in order for the Leafs to trade him.
While this may appear to be a substantial loss for the Leafs, it was an unfortunate situation they had backed themselves into. They were on the hook to pay RFA Mitch Marner to a substantial contract, which ended up being $10,893,000 against their cap, as well as other players they were looking to keep.
Before the season started, Marleau was bought out by Carolina and he ended up returning to the San Jose Sharks, the team he had played 19 seasons for, on a team friendly contract. His contract still counts against the Hurricanes’ salary cap, but it was a hit they could handle and the return they got was well worth it.
Relating to the Rangers
While the Rangers do still have their first-round pick intact it is something they obviously do not want to give up and should not give up. They are in the process of acquiring young talent and giving this up for a trade such as the Marleau one where they would get rid of Staal or Smith is obviously a step in the wrong direction.
This is where someone such as Kreider comes into play. Since he is most likely expected to garner a first-round pick and a prospect from a contending team anyways, his spot in the trade essentially represents giving up a first-round pick. I strongly believe that contending teams in need of left-wing depth and flexible cap space for next season would be willing to take on such a deal. The same goes for a team looking for a young and promising player such as Strome, DeAngelo or Georgiev who are having career years in their respective positions.
The verdict
While such trades may still seem like a stretch, I believe it is something the Rangers should strongly consider. Another major reason this would work is because both Staal and Smith only have one year remaining on their deals after this season, the same situation as Marleau. If a contending team knew they could have a difference maker for the playoffs in Kreider (and possibly lock him up long-term) for the sake of being locked into say an okay but versatile player in Smith for only one year, while only giving up maybe a second or third round pick I think it would be ridiculous not to consider.
Alternatively, if the Rangers could pull off such a trade where they send a problem contract with someone such as DeAngelo or Georgiev, there is a chance they could keep both Kreider and Strome who I personally believe are valuable to the team going forward.
While trades like this seem underwhelming for a former first-rounder like Kreider, who has been playing remarkable lately, it would ensure that they would have no problem resigning every one of their other players in need of a new contract with some room to spare. As mentioned, the type of trade I suggest would most likely force the Rangers to only ship one of their valuable players at the deadline or over the summer, rather than multiple men like we have seen the past two years. Again, I suggest this option for the Rangers if the offers they receive in the coming months are below what management believes they should be.
Many have suggested that the team should go the buyout route again, with Staal, Smith, or even Henrik Lundqvist, however, that absolutely must not happen. As we have seen with the Dan Girardi buyout and now the Kevin Shattenkirk buyout, they are detrimental to the organization by saddling the Blueshirts with dead cap space that could be better used to pay players who can actually help the team.
Here is to hoping that after next season we will be rid of the last of monstrous buyout payments against the cap hit and that the Rangers find a meaningful way out of a cap problem in which they forced themselves into.
light. Related Story. Treading water or moving forward?