For the past few summers fans of the New York Rangers have
seen the end of the mega contract that eventually hangs around the neck of the
organization like an albatross as they stare into the abyss of salary cap
calamity. Much of the reason for that is
that the organization has been against the salary cap so the mega deals for
huge money and significant years have not been something that has been possible
for GM Glen Sather to make. He has made
some bad signings in the last two years as well in terms of the level of
overpayment for some free agents, but the sheer dollars involved have been so
much less that he has gotten away without the same level of scrutiny.
That could change this summer with Sather having eliminated
most of the worst contracts on the club’s balance sheet, and an expected rise
in the salary cap. Add in potential
buyouts of Chris Drury, Wojtek Wolski and possibly Sean Avery and the Rangers
could be looking at upwards of $25+ million in cap space to work with this
summer. Obviously a good chunk of that
money will go to the new deals for Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Artem
Anisimov, Michael Sauer and Brian Boyle.
That said, when those five deals are done there will still be huge money
left on the table and we know that Sather is not one to leave it there sitting
idle.
There is no secret he will look for the big fish in this
year’s market, Brad Richards, when July 1 comes. The problem becomes whether he will revert
back to the old ways and lock himself right back into another long-term deal
(5+ years) for huge money ($7+ million) as Richards is rumored to be
seeking. Even scarier than that scenario
might be what Sather could do with the money if he loses out on Richards. In the unrestricted free agent (UFA) market
Richards is the only elite talent there and the pool after that drops off
significantly. That scenario creates
multiple bad scenarios for the Rangers.
The weak UFA market gives Richards added leverage in his own
negotiations as there is no comparable alternative out there to spend the money
in the market. The other bad scenario is
that the weak market means all the secondary options are likely to be overpaid
in both years and dollars this summer.
Second and third liners will be paid more than they deserve because the
teams that miss on Richards will be hungry to not walk away completely
empty-handed. This is why the best move
for the Rangers is to stay out of the unrestricted free agent market altogether
this summer other than some depth signings if necessary. Other than Richards, there is no one in the
UFA class that is a significant upgrade, especially in the forward group, compared to what the Rangers already
have, yet they will get paid as if they are.
The main alternative to the UFA market is to look for the
answers in trades, which as bad as Sather has been in his big dollar free agent
contracts, he has been that good in the trade market. This has been bandied about with different
names already this offseason, some of which are more intriguing than others.
The other alternative that seems to be lost in the
discussion because the urge is to fix the problems on the team is just to
basically stand still and hope for the growth from the youth for next season. The rebuilding process is one that has gone
on over the past few years and while fans are itching to contend again as soon
as possible, staying with the course and making the right moves is more
important than just making a move you hope will work.
Whatever Sather does at this point, the goal should be to
add top talent, not more depth to the core that already exists in New
York. If that talent is not available,
for whatever reason, the Rangers should not be afraid to just take a pass and
head into next year with the same core group from this past season.
