Rangers Salary Cap Issues

Dubi at the Blueshirt Bulletin gives a nice in-depth look at the salary cap scenarios for the Rangers...

"With next season's cap likely to be in the $55 million range, that leaves $19 million to re-sign Avery, re-sign or replace Jagr, re-sign or replace Rozsival, re-sign Dawes and Sjostrom, and fill out three depth positions with rookies or veterans returning on the cheap. The early line is that it will take $6-8 million to fill Jagr's position, $3.5-4 million for Avery, and $4-6 million for Rozsival's spot. It will be impossible to go to the high end on all three positions and still have anything left over for the five other positions that need to be filled. Which makes it that much more imperative to re-sign Jagr, since part of his salary can be deferred into the following season.

The big conundrum will be on defense. If you re-sign Jagr, Avery, and Rozsival at the low end of the scale, you have precious little left for the type of power play quarterback or crease clearer the team really needs. And if one or two manage to get more than the low end, there is no room at all -- unless you forego Rozsival and target Wade Redden, the one free agent who combines both elements the Rangers need, although he will obviously cost more, or go for a cheaper option like John-Michael Liles or Marc Streit as your QB or Brooks Orpik as you banger, along with a second defenseman from the low-cost end of the list. None of which leaves you with any room to maneuvre during the season -- which means the best option of all might very well be a trade rather than a free agent.

But no matter how you cut it, it's hard to see where there can be any room for Brendan Shanahan, Martin Straka, or Paul Mara -- unless they are willing to work for peanuts as depth players. You'd want your young players to cut their teeth in those roles, but veterans like these would be great depth players if the team ran into a rash of injuries or young players unexpectedly hitting walls or ceilings."

...and this is why I love the salary cap. It keeps a team like the Rangers from buying up every free agent available. This is great for two reasons: 1) I'm a big fan of parity in the league and that's what the cap brings and 2) the "Buying Every Free Agent Available" strategy always blew up in the Rangers face and I'm glad they can't do it anymore.

...Sather's got a lot of work to do this off-season trying to make the numbers work. Good luck Glen.