Options for the Rangers with limited cap space
The New York Rangers will be limited by the salary cap and for years to come. Chris Drury’s task of filling out the roster every off-season will only continue to grow increasingly difficult. Every extension, free agent signing, and trade will have an impact on his ability to operate in the future. When exploring options this off-season, you must look at how it affects the Rangers’ future cap space.
Many of the top players are locked into long term contracts. Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Adam Fox, Jacob Trouba, Igor Shesterkin and even Barclay Goodrow are under contract for several more years. It is great that the top tier talent is here to stay and there aren’t questions surrounding how to keep them around. However, having this many talented, highly paid players under contract for so long, makes it arduous to fill out the roster.
In order to keep this team a contender, Drury will need to scrape the bottom of the barrel and find bargains. It is crucial to have players that can contribute in a specific role on a contract with a low number. This can be done by efficiently developing players so they can play at a high level on their entry level contracts, finding talent amongst undrafted NCAA free agents to slot into the bottom six, signing competent veterans to minimum salaries, and obtaining undervalued assets via trade or the waiver wire.
As we have seen the two teams in the Stanley Cup Final, the Avalanche and Lightning, they have done a superb job at this. Tampa Bay’s roster includes Zach Bogosian, Corey Perry, Patrick Maroon, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare for one million dollars or less. As we saw first hand, they all fit specific roles, and have been key contributors to their success. Additionally, Ross Colton was a fourth round pick and became an unexpected factor to the roster last year, and was signed to contract earning $1.125 million.
Similarly, Colorado has made similar moves. Darren Helm was signed for the fourth line for only $1 million, Nicolas Aube-Kubel was claimed off waivers from the Flyers mid-season, and Logan O’Connor was signed as a undrafted free agent after playing at the University of Denver. He then played for their minor league affiliate and developed into an efficient bottom six forward.
Let’s not forget Valeri Nichushkin, a former first round pick who was bought out by the Dallas Stars. The Avalanche signed him for $850k in 2019 and extended him for two years at a $2.5 million AAV. He scored 25 goals this season and has nine points in 14 playoff games.
Therefore, let’s evaluate what the Rangers have already done that are similar to these acquisitions, and what they still could do this off-season.