A possible cap escape for the New York Rangers

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.