With yesterday’s reporting that the NHL salary cap for the
2011-12 season could rise to $64 million dollars much of the focus was on what
it means to the Rangers immediate cap space to keep their restricted free
agents and chase Brad Richards this summer.
The most intriguing thing about the cap announcement might be the increase
in the cap floor to $48 million from the previous $43.4 million during the
2010-11 season.
The reason that the rise in the cap floor is so interesting
as there are a few teams out there that have tremendous amounts of cap room and
not a lot of guys to sign that will make big dollars. Various teams fit into this kind of situation,
but two of the most obvious are the Florida Panthers who have hardly any
payroll committed for next season, $18.3 million, and the New York Islanders
who have payroll checking in at $36.8 million but have already 17 players under
contract.
Both of these teams will add salary when they bring up high
draft picks who have high incentives on their entry level deals. Beyond that however neither team is known for
attracting free agents to their club because of bad teams and ownership that
has been unwilling to spend more than what is absolutely necessary. The options on the table for them would be to
overpay free agents so they can reach the salary cap floor, which they can
afford, or become a de facto clearing house for bad contracts that other teams
are looking to unload.
Those factors lead to thoughts that were unthinkable in that
the Rangers might have a way to rid themselves of Wade Redden by trading him to
one of these teams that needs to add to their cap figures. The Rangers obviously would get nothing of
value in return for Redden and might have to sweeten the pot with a pick or
prospect to get another team to take on the salary. As maligned as Redden was for his play with
the Rangers during his first two seasons on Broadway, he would still be an NHL
defender if his salary were half of the $6.5 million he makes.
With the work that Redden did in Hartford mentoring the
Rangers defensive prospects, a young team in search of some leadership and
teaching skills could have interest in dealing for him to help their young
players as well as hit the cap floor. If you are a rebuilding team like Florida who can obtain more assets to the rebuild (pick(s), prospect) and the veteran leadership to mentor the young players just for taking his salary to get in compliance with the floor of the cap, you might just do it.
Yes, it is still crazy to think Wade Redden could actually
get dealt, but the financial requirements for teams to have payroll at $48
million makes the idea a little less impossible to believe. Rangers’ General Manager Glen Sather has
worked his trade magic before, which only adds to the hope that he could do it
again with Redden. Players like Mike
Komisarek or Brian Campbell would be more likely to fit the bill of overpaid
player to pump the cap floor that can contribute to more on the ice than Redden
can, but more than since the day he signed the six-year, $39 million deal with
the Rangers there is hope that the rising cap floor could force someone to take
him on.
