Why the New York Rangers dead cap problem is almost over

If I ask you the three players that the Rangers are paying to not play for them, would you be able to tell me who they are? If you regularly visit websites like CapFriendly or PuckPedia, you’ll know what the answer to that question is. But if I told you that there are three guys who are receiving $3,427,778 against the cap that do not play for the Rangers and all stop receiving payments at the end of this year, it gets a little better.

Tony DeAngelo, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Dan Girardi are the three former Ranger defensemen that are still getting payments from the team. While they all clear up at the end of this year, it has really limited what New York’s front office has been able to do this summer. With the Rangers’ need for cap space growing exponentially as their young talents start to require healthy pay cheques, it’s clearing up at the right time.

Dan Girardi was bought out at the conclusion of the 2016-17 season for those that might not remember. His play had diminished a lot and he wasn’t worth the $5.5 million annually he was making against the cap. His payout since then has been the ever-pleasing number of $1,111,111 per year. As I stated earlier, his cap hit is up at the end of this year. Six years later, the Rangers are still paying for Girardi to be retired.

Shattenkirk was a weird one from the start. After a great year in St Louis, and a successful stint in Washington, he signed with the Rangers in free agency and he just stopped being as good as he was. After just two seasons in New York, the Rangers bought him out. His $1,433,333 against the cap has been hampering the team since. He is now an Anaheim Duck for those that are not aware and are curious.

DeAngelo we all remember. After a heated debate with the team, DeAngelo was ostracized. New York bought him out of his 2-year deal after just six games of year one. His dead cap hit of $883,334 is the lowest of the three. He was a restricted free agent this past summer after a bounce-back season in Carolina. He is now a member of the Flyers organization as he continues his NHL career in the Metropolitan.

This might seem like a negligible amount of money to some. All in all, it is just $3,427,778. Where’s the harm in that? To help people visualize, you could get 4 league minimum deals for that amount of money and have $427,778 left over. It’s a sizable amount of money. It’ll limit what the front office of the team can do at the deadline, and it’s part of the reason why the Rangers haven’t been more active in free agency.

Question for Blue Line Station readers: Out of the three players the Rangers are paying not to pay for them, which one is the biggest regret to have bought out?