New York Rangers: A Henrik Lundqvist buyout scenario

Could the Rangers do it?

In order for the Rangers to do something like this, they would have to: 1) Get Lundqvist to waive his No Movement Clause, 2) Find a team with the cap space to take on a contract like that and 3) Make an offer that such a team would find attractive.

There is one team that fits the bill and that would be the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings are deep into a rebuild and have almost $36 million in cap space to play with.  General Manager Steve Yzerman is a canny hockey executive who will be looking to take advantage of that cap space to bring assets to his organization.

The Toronto Maple Leafs sort of set the bar for cap-clearing deals when they traded Patrick Marleau to the Carolina Hurricanes.  In probably the most one-sided trade in recent years, the Leafs gave Carolina Marleau along with their first and seventh round picks in the 2020 draft while getting back a sixth round pick.   Yes, the Hurricanes get the 13th overall pick, a later pick and the opportunity to buy out Marleau and they only gave up a sixth round pick. Of course, the Canes wasted no time in buying him out and carried a $6 million cap hit for one season.

There’s no doubt that the Maple Leafs gave up a lot because they were desperate and the Rangers are not, but a savvy operator like Yzerman will try to squeeze the most out of any team looking for cap relief.  Don’t put it past him to ask for a high draft pick or a top prospect.

Would they re-sign him?

While Patrick Marleau went on to sign with the San Jose Sharks, Orpik did return to the team that traded him and that  could be an option for Lundqvist.  Having Lundqvist in his back pocket, it would give Jeff Gorton the flexibility to see what the trade market is for Alexandar Georgiev. The Rangers could do far worse than to sign Lundqvist to a one year deal for a bargain salary to serve as back up and mentor for Igor Shesterkin,

It’s not like Lundqvist is on the outs with the organization.  The Rangers sent out a Lundqvist tweet on Tuesday.

It wouldn’t be the first time that a New York Rangers goalie was traded to get around arcane NHL rules. Most fans don’t remember that Ranger immortal Mike Richter was property of the Nashville Predators and the Edmonton Oilers during his storied career with the Blueshirts.

Mike Richter was claimed by the Predators in the 1998 expansion draft, but signed with the Rangers just days later as a free agent.   In 2002  the Rangers traded Richter to Edmonton only to sign him as a free agent just four days later.  It takes reading the small print in Richter’s bio to see that he was with three NHL teams, but only played for the Rangers.

Should they do it?

If Lundqvist’s days as a Ranger are over, its a way for the team to be free of an onerous cap hit and for him to test the free agency waters. If it’s all within the rules, is there really any problem with this?

It all depends on what a rival general manager like Yzerman would try to extort from the Blueshirts.  A first or second round pick should be out of the questions.  A sure fire prospect?  The Rangers should think twice.   Then again, it could be part of a bigger deal involving other players.

It has to be something that John Davidson and Jeff Gorton are thinking about as they prepare for what will be a very busy and abbreviated off-season.