Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2017-18 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
New York Rangers
Current Cap Hit: $71,949,444 (under the $75MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Pavel Buchnevich (Two years remaining, $925K)
D Anthony DeAngelo (Two years remaining, $863K)
D Brady Skjei (One year remaining, $925K)
F Jimmy Vesey (One year remaining, $925K)
Potential Bonuses
DeAngelo: $400K
Vesey: $2.85MM
Total: $3.25MM
Vesey, the top prize out of the 2016 August free agent group, got off to a strong start with New York but tailed off as the season progressed. Now that he has gone through a full professional season, expectations will be higher and if he can live up to them, he’ll get a nice boost on his next deal. Buchnevich was held back by injuries for a good chunk of last year but he should be in line for a bigger role next season.
Skjei was a major bright spot in 2016-17. Although he had just 12 games of NHL experience (regular season and playoffs) heading into the year, he wound up locking down a regular spot and was extremely productive from the third pairing with 39 points (5-34-39) in 80 games. If he comes even close to that next season, he will be in line for a significant raise. DeAngelo now finds himself with his third organization since June of 2016. He was productive at times in a limited role with Arizona last year but there’s no guarantee he locks down a full-time spot. If he winds up going back and forth between the Rangers and the AHL’s Wolf Pack, he might be a player who takes a smaller NHL AAV next summer in exchange for more guaranteed money (or a one-way deal).
One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level
F David Desharnais ($1MM, UFA)
F Michael Grabner ($1.65MM, UFA)
F Kevin Hayes ($2.6MM, RFA)
D Nick Holden ($1.65MM, UFA)
F J.T. Miller ($2.75MM, RFA)
G Ondrej Pavelec ($1.3MM, UFA)
F Matt Puempel ($725K, RFA)
F Rick Nash ($7.8MM, UFA)
Nash is by far the most notable name on this list. His production has nosedived the past two years (injuries haven’t helped either) but he still has the reputation of being a quality goal scorer. He hasn’t lived up to his contract and shouldn’t land close to that in free agency but even though he’ll be 34 next summer, he’s likely to garner a fair amount of interest based on his reputation alone. It was noted earlier today that no extension talks have taken place between Nash and the team.
As for the other forwards, Miller is wrapping up his bridge deal in 2017-18 and expectations will be high. Not only is he coming off of a career year, he will also be asked to take on more of the load with Derek Stepan now in Arizona. It’s certainly reasonable to think that he could double his current deal if he eclipses the 50 point mark again. Hayes is in a similar situation and is also coming off of a career season with 49 points. He is also likely to shift up a notch with Stepan gone which can only bode well for his next deal. Grabner was a pleasant surprise as he finished second in goals last season on a team-friendly contract. He has been hot and cold over his career but another 20-goal campaign would make him a much more coveted player next summer. Desharnais was added to give them some extra depth down the middle while they wait for their prospects while Puempel will once again attempt to lock down a regular spot on the fourth line.
Holden struggled with Colorado but saw his fortunes take a turn for the better with New York. He set career highs across the board offensively and cemented himself as a top-four option. His name has been involved in trade speculation throughout the summer as someone they could move to find a replacement for Stepan but being a rental player that should land a bigger deal next summer, his value around the rest of the league may not be as high as it should be based on the way he played last season. If he makes it to free agency, he’ll be in line for a considerable pay increase.
With Antti Raanta also being moved to the Coyotes, the Rangers moved quickly to bring Ondrej Pavelec in as their new backup goalie. He’s coming off a rough year that saw him spend a long time in the minor leagues but on a new team and lower expectations than he had with Winnipeg, he’s a good candidate to bounce back.
Two Years Remaining
D Ryan McDonagh ($4.7MM, UFA)
F Mats Zuccarello ($4.5MM, UFA)
There aren’t many players here but they’re prominent ones. Zuccarello was more or less an afterthought going back to 2012-13 but since then he has been consistently productive, averaging 57 points over the past four years. Even though he’s undersized, that won’t stop him from being highly sought after if he makes it to the open market.
McDonagh has been a dependable workhorse on the blueline for a long time and has cracked 40 points as well in two of the last four years. He’s still a legitimate top pairing defender and will be 30 once he’s eligible for free agency. At that age, he could very well land another six-year deal at a higher rate than he’s getting now.
Three Years Remaining
F Jesper Fast ($1.65MM, UFA)
F Chris Kreider ($4.625MM, UFA)
After not being able to agree to terms on a longer-term deal last summer, Kreider and the Rangers avoided arbitration by basically meeting in the middle with a four-year pact. That lines him up to hit the open market at 29 and power forwards like him are always in high demand. Fast saw his numbers decline last year but he’s still a capable third liner that’s locked up at a reasonable rate for the foreseeable future.
Four Or More Years Remaining
G Henrik Lundqvist ($8.5MM through 2020-21)
D Kevin Shattenkirk ($6.65MM through 2020-21)
D Brendan Smith ($4.35MM through 2020-21)
D Marc Staal ($5.7MM through 2020-21)
F Mika Zibanejad ($5.35MM through 2021-22)
Zibanejad’s deal is still quite fresh as it was signed just one month ago. With Stepan gone, the 24-year-old will have a chance to push for a regular spot on the top line and if he can pull that off and produce like a number one, this will be a bargain pretty quickly.
Shattenkirk turned down more money and term to land with his preferred team in the Rangers. He’ll provide them with a big boost offensively from the back end while strengthening their top four. Smith fit in well after being acquired from Detroit around the trade deadline and his contract slots in around what a typical second pairing player gets in free agency although he doesn’t bring much to the table in the attacking zone. Staal’s contract has been nothing short of a disaster to the point where it appears they’ve at least considered buying him out. His reputation was that he was a strong shutdown player but that hasn’t been the case in recent years. He can log minutes but not much else which is going to make this a rough contract to move.
Lundqvist’s deal stood up as the richest for a goalie before Montreal’s Carey Price signed his extension last month. He’s 35 and is coming off his worst statistical season in the NHL. If it was just an off year and he reverts back to his normal numbers it won’t be an issue but if 2016-17 represented the beginning of a downswing, this also has the potential to be a problem contract down the road.
Buyouts
D Dan Girardi ($2.61MM in 2017-18, $3.61MM in 2018-19/2019-20, $1.61MM from 2020-21 through 2022-23)
C Brad Richards (compliance buyout so no cap hit; payments to be made through 2025-26)
Retained Salary Transactions
None
Still To Sign
None
Best Value: Miller
Worst Value: Staal
Looking Ahead
As things stand, New York is in a good spot cap-wise this season while they have $51.6MM committed to 11 players for 2018-19. A good chunk of that money will need to go to new deals for Miller, Hayes, Vesey, and Skjei which will make it a challenge to keep Nash or Holden in the fold or find replacements.
The biggest test will come in 2019-20 when McDonagh and Zuccarello are set to hit the open market. Both of them are likely to command sizable raises and the team already has a little over $40MM tied up in just seven players, an amount that will assuredly jump when the above group sign their next contracts. Will GM Jeff Gorton be able to keep the entire core together at that time? That might prove to be a bit too much of a challenge without moving at least one key player out.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Staal contract is really the only one that hurts, along with the minor cap hit via Girardi. Nash off in a year will help. Good depth otherwise.
What is a compliance buyout?
There’s only 3 possibilities for Staal to not finish out contract which is impeding on the cap!
1- Gorton finds someone to take contract which is in guessing 99% unlikely at this point.
2- Staal retired medical reasons as he suffered numerous concussions and who knows if Rangers front office quietly felt it’s more of likelihood that he retires early then Girardi so they choose to cut bait on Girardi and slowly take the buy out cap hit over the next 4 years.
3- Staal plays out the next four years as a bottom line defenseman and occasional 7th defensemen which I doubt as the guy has his pride and a medical insurance buyout seems more likely.