Steve Zipay at the Ranger Insider, goes over the Rangers salary cap situation for next year..."...the Rangers have a Zamboni-full of expiring contracts, and with the salary cap expected to rise to about $54 million for next season, here's some of the unanswered questions for not only the this season but beyond...
GOALTENDING - Fairly straightforward, except for the Al Montoya dilemma.Lundqvist is on the verge of receiving a raise from his current $4.25 million, let's say, to $6 million a year for six years....
DEFENSE - Very tricky, with only star-in-waiting Marc Staal ($765,000) under contract. Fedor Tyutin ($988,000) and Dan Girardi ($550,000) are restricted free agents. I'm assuming the Rangers re-sign both. For speculative purposes, let's put Tyutin down for $1.2 million and Girardi for $800,000. That's $2.765 million for three defensemen...The other option is to pass on Rozsival, and bid for UFAs: Buffalo's Brian Campbell, Tampa's Dan Boyle, Colorado's John-Michael Liles. Another scenario: Target St. Louis' Barrett Jackman ($2.1 million this season and unrestricted) in a trade in the next 10 days. Jackman isn't the power-play QB answer -- he's more of a rugged, stay-at-home type who'll be 27 next month and could possibly be re-signed with a raise.
FORWARDS - ...Most observers, including this one, are assuming Brendan Shanahan, 39, and Martin Straka, who has asked for one-year contracts two years in a row, will retire. Do you re-sign Sean Avery, who almost assuredly won't want to take less than the $1.9 million he won in arbitration? Given the need for forwards -- and some snarl -- maybe...Now the crux of the issue: Jaromir Jagr, who won't hit 84 points to trigger a contract extension. Does he stay for a year for $3 million to 4 million plus performance incentives? Does he retire to Prague? Does he play in Russia? Does some other NHL GM offer him a two-year, $10-million deal? Do the Rangers bid -- and perhaps overpay -- for Marian Hossa? Do they re-sign brother Marcel? What are the other possible options among the UFAs?..."
...I know the only thing Ranger fans are concerned about right now is making the playoffs. But with 5 days off, there's only so many 'what do the Rangers need to do to make the playoffs?' stories I can take.
...Zipay does a nice job adding up projected salaries for free agents to try and keep the Rangers under the salary cap. Click on the Ranger Insider link above for the full story. Definitely worth a read.
2 comments:
Now that Hank's deal is just about done, it's time to get Avery's done. He's not having a great year but the Rangers need him badly. It seems like he'll take a 1 or 2 year deal. Hey Slats, GET THIS DEAL DONE SOON!
Well said Bpette02.
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