If you think the New York Rangers are in cap trouble, think again

The New York Rangers will head into this off-season with several high profile Restricted Free Agents and limited cap space to sign them.  There are teams in worse shape than the Blueshirts.

The salary cap promises to wreak havoc on many teams in the NHL next season, including the New York Rangers.  Earlier this year, the projection was that the cap ceiling could increase to anywhere from $84 to $88 million, up from the $81.5 million it was this season.  With the NHL’s season suspended and an uncertain future for the rest of this campaign, the expectations are that the salary cap could actually go down.

That’s bad news for a number of teams like the Rangers.  If the cap remains where it is, they will have $13.5 million to spend on new contracts for Anthony DeAngelo, Ryan Strome, Brendan Lemieux and Alexandar Georgiev plus two additional forwards and one defenseman.

While there has been speculation that the league will allow up to two compliance buyouts, nothing is confirmed.  The Rangers could use compliance buyouts on Henrik Lundqvist and Marc Staal and free up and additional $14.2 million.  As harsh as that seems for two longtime Rangers, the Blueshirts may have no choice.

The Rangers are not the only team in this bind and there are some teams that are in real trouble if the cap doesn’t go up. Looking at the numbers, it’s obvious that there will have to be some form of cap relief.  On a positive note, this could be a situation that a team like the Rangers could take advantage of.

Disasters

There are ten NHL teams that will have less than $10 million in cap space if the cap stays the same. All of them have restricted free agents to sign and unrestricted free agents to replace.  Some teams are in an absolute bind and will have to jettison quality players while others will have to jump through hoops to make it work. Here’s a look at a few of them.

Arizona Coyotes – Worst off is Arizona with only $1.51 million in cap space.  That’s how much they have to sign three restricted free agents of which two are arbitration eligible and re-sign or replace three unrestricted free agents.

To make matters absolutely worse, one of the those UFA’s is Taylor Hall.  Hall is coming off a $6 million salary , a contract he signed before he won the Hart Trophy in 2017-18.  His value has dropped a bit coming off an injury ridden season in 2018-19 and an average 16 goal, 52 point season so far this year.  Still, he is expected to reap a big payday in excess of $9 million.

Even if he Coyotes give up on all of their RFA’s and other UFA’s they will need a compliance  buyout to be order to come up with the money to sign Hall and if anyone swoops in with a mega offer, Hall is a goner.

St. Louis Blues – Another team in the trouble zone are the St. Louis Blues. They look to have a little over two million in cap space and two RFA’s to sign and two UFA’s to replace or re-sign. Of course, one of the UFA’s is team captain Alex Pietrangelo who is finishing off a $6.5 million contract.  The good news for the Blues is that they can afford to lose Troy Brouwer, their other UFA and RFA Vince Dunn has no leverage.  If they want to keep Pietrangelo, they will have to rely on a compliance buyout to come up with the cash.

Toronto Maple Leafs – The Toronto Maple Leafs have been flirting with cap hell for several years and look to have all of $4.6 million to spend on three RFA’s and four UFA’s.   The Leafs would love to keep three of the UFA’s (Tyson Barrie, Cody Ceci and Kyle Clifford) but that cap space won’t go very far, especially considering that they will need about a million to retain RFA defenseman Travis Dermott.

Tampa Bay Lightning – The Tampa Bay Lightning are an interesting case.  If the cap remains the same, they will have $5.3 million to spend and no less than five RFA’s and five UFA’s.  They have three veteran defensemen all hitting UFA status in Kevin Shattenkirk, Zach Bogosian and Luke Schenn.  Young blueliners Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak are both RFA’s and will have to settle for the minimum and you’d have to consider Sergachev an offer sheet opportunity.   No doubt they would also like to keep UFA Pat Maroon in the fold, but it’s going to be a balancing act.

Columbus Blue Jackets – Columbus has a little more cap space than some of their rivals, but $6.4 million won’t go far, especially if they have to ante up for arbitration-eligible RFA Josh Anderson. Although in this injury ridden season he has scored only one goal, he is one year removed from a 27 goal, 47 point season.   The Blue Jackets have seven other RFA’s with four (including Anderson) eligible for arbitration.

Pittsburgh Penguins – While the Rangers with $15.3 million and five RFA’s and two UFA’s to deal with are not in the best shape, compare them to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  The Pens look to have $13.2 million to spend, but they have eight arbitration-eligible RFA’s to sign along with three UFA’s including important players like Conor Sheary and defenseman Justin Schultz.

The Penguins challenge is in net where both Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry are RFA’s and the team will have a tough choice to make.  Considering their cap situation, it may be the end of Matt Murray’s run in Steeltown.