Salary Cap Deep Dive: New York Rangers
Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avoid 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 2022-23 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on 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: $81,491,469 (under the $82.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
D Zachary Jones (one year, $925K)
F Alexis Lafreniere (one year, $925K)
D K’Andre Miller (one year, $925K)
D Braden Schneider (two years, $925K)
Potential Bonuses
Lafreniere: $2.85MM
Miller: $400K
Schneider: $400K
Total: $3.65MM
Lafreniere’s per-game numbers last season were nearly identical to his rookie-season numbers which doesn’t help bolster his case for a bridge-bypassing contract. The top pick in 2020 certainly has shown some upside but for now, a bridge in the $2.5MM range might be the best way to go for both sides. His ‘B’ bonuses are almost certainly unattainable but an improved performance could give him a shot at one or two of the ‘A’ bonuses worth $212.5K apiece.
Miller has averaged more than 20 minutes per game in his first two seasons and is pegged to have a top-four role again in 2022-23. His limited offensive production, however, makes it difficult to project a long-term contract as Miller’s camp would likely prefer a bridge with the hopes that the output will come. A two-year deal around $2.75MM or a three-year contract worth a little over $3MM might be where his next price tag checks in. Schneider and Jones will both be looking to establish themselves as full-time regulars this season. For Jones, that doesn’t leave much time to command a pricey second contract so he, too, will be looking for a bridge. Schneider has a bit more runway but like Miller, he might not produce enough for both sides to find a long-term price tag that they’ll like.
Signed Through 2022-23, Non-Entry-Level
F Sammy Blais ($1.525MM, UFA)
F Ryan Carpenter ($750K, UFA)
F Filip Chytil ($2.3MM, RFA)
F Julien Gauthier ($800K, RFA)
D Libor Hajek ($800K, RFA)
G Jaroslav Halak ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Dryden Hunt ($762.5K, UFA)
F Vitali Kravtsov ($875K, RFA)
F Ryan Reaves ($1.75MM, UFA)
Potential Bonuses
Halak: $50K
Chytil took a bit of a step back last season. He continues to show some signs of being able to crack a top-six spot but the consistency hasn’t been there yet. He’s likely to remain on the third line where he’ll see time both on the wing and down the middle but unless he takes a sizable jump forward offensively (his career-high in points is 23), he might not be able to get much more than his $2.6MM qualifying offer. Kravtsov is one of the bigger wildcards this season in New York. He’s no longer waiver-exempt and he wasn’t exactly lighting it up in the KHL the last couple of years. If he can lock down a regular spot in the lineup, he’ll be well-positioned for at least a small raise but otherwise, he’s likely to wind up around the $1MM mark. Gauthier hasn’t been able to progress beyond being a fringe winger thus far and it’s telling that he took less than his qualifying offer to secure a one-way deal. Until he establishes himself as a regular, he probably won’t pass the $1MM mark.
As for the UFAs, Reaves is one of the few remaining enforcers in the league. He’ll be 36 when he signs his next deal and this might be the one that starts to drive his salary downward. Blais missed almost all of last season after undergoing ACL surgery and will be looking to restore some value a year out before free agency. If he can establish himself as a power forward that’s capable of playing on the third line, he could push for double his AAV next summer. Hunt established himself a regular last season which will help him a bit but if he stays in a fourth-line role, he won’t be able to command much more than $1MM. Carpenter had to settle for the league minimum this summer in free agency and if he winds up in a depth role again, that’s about where his next deal will be as well.
Hajek was a frequent healthy scratch last season and hasn’t lived up to the billing of being an important part of the Ryan McDonagh trade in 2018. He should be on the fringes again this year. He’s not in danger of being non-tendered but at this point, the raises will be incremental at most moving forward.
Halak comes over after a tough showing in Vancouver last season. He should be able to play a bit more this time around after going long stretches between starts a year ago but he’ll be 38 next summer and will be going year-to-year from here on out with a cap hit around this range.
Signed Through 2023-24
F Kaapo Kakko ($2.1MM, RFA)
D Ryan Lindgren ($3MM, UFA)
Kakko, one of the top picks from 2019, struggled to stay healthy and couldn’t manage too much production so a bridge deal was the natural move for both sides. Considering he’s still only 21, there’s still room for him to improve and become a full-time top-six player which would give him a shot at a sizable raise in 2024.
Lindgren has stepped up into a top-four role and has become one of New York’s better shutdown defenders over the last couple of seasons. As was the case with some of their entry-level blueliners, limited production will limit his earnings potential but as he’ll be a year away from UFA eligibility in 2024, he’ll hold a lot of leverage and will be owed a $3.6MM qualifying offer. A long-term agreement would be closer to the $5MM range.
Signed Through 2024-25
G Igor Shesterkin ($5.67MM, UFA)
Shesterkin’s deal was signed when had less than 50 career NHL appearances under his belt so it did carry some risk. However, the reward already looks quite high as the Vezina Trophy winner and first-team All-Star is coming off a dominant season. He’s not in the top ten in the NHL in terms of his cap hit so the Rangers have quite a bargain on their hands. Looking ahead to three years from now, as long as he remains one of the top goalies in the league, he’ll hit the open market at 29 in a position to command close to a max-term deal where he’ll be able to become one of the top-paid netminders in NHL history. Not too shabby for someone who even now has just 100 NHL regular season contests under his belt.
Central Notes: Blackhawks, Wild Injuries, Jets
There will be teams that need to clear salary before the regular season gets underway next month. There aren’t many squads that have enough room to take on a contract but the Blackhawks have made it known that they are open to discussing such a move, relays Ben Pope of the Chicago-Sun Times. While Chicago clearly isn’t looking to win now, their impetus for doing such a move would be to pick up some other future assets along with the contract of the veteran player they’d be acquiring. Per CapFriendly, the team has roughly $7.5MM in cap room right now and while they’ll want to leave some wiggle room for injury recalls, they certainly will have enough flexibility left to make this type of trade.
More from the Central where St. Louis and Arizona will play the first-ever NHL game in Kansas tonight:
- The bad news for the Wild is that they’ll be without both defenseman Jon Merrill and winger Jordan Greenway when the regular season gets underway. However, as Michael Russo of The Athletic notes (subscription link), both players are expected back within the first five to ten games of the season. Merrill was injured in the opening game at the World Championship back in the spring while Greenway underwent offseason shoulder surgery with Russo noting that he recently had another procedure done as well. Neither player will be out long enough to be LTIR-eligible but Minnesota has enough cap space to not need the LTIR relief anyway.
- The Jets appear likely to carry eight defensemen on their roster to start the season, suggests Jeff Hamilton of the Winnipeg Free Press. With their six returning regulars from 2021-22, that leaves a couple of roster spots open. Ville Heinola and Dylan Samberg would appear to be the favorites for the final two slots but only if they’re going to be in the top six. That could have newcomer Kyle Capobianco and younger Leon Gawanke (who is now waiver-eligible) on the outside looking in, making them a pair of possible claim candidates in the coming weeks.
2008 NHL Draft Take Two: Fourteenth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science, and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?
The results of our redraft so far are as follows with their original draft position in parentheses:
1st Overall: Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)
2nd Overall: Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings (2)
3rd Overall: Roman Josi, Atlanta Thrashers (38)
4th Overall: Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues (4)
5th Overall: Erik Karlsson, Toronto Maple Leafs (15)
6th Overall: John Carlson, Columbus Blue Jackets (27)
7th Overall: Jacob Markstrom, Nashville Predators (31)
8th Overall: Braden Holtby, Phoenix Coyotes (93)
9th Overall: Jordan Eberle, New York Islanders (22)
10th Overall: Jared Spurgeon, Vancouver Canucks (156)
11th Overall: Cam Atkinson, Chicago Blackhawks (157)
12th Overall: T.J. Brodie, Buffalo Sabres (114)
13th Overall: Josh Bailey, Los Angeles Kings (9)
For the first time in our 2008 Redraft series, we see a player slide from his original draft spot. Bailey, originally selected ninth overall by the New York Islanders falls just four spots to thirteenth overall, where he would instead head to the Kings. Looking back on it, there were more than a couple names taken after Bailey who may have been the more prudent selection for the Islanders, who took him ninth, but that doesn’t necessarily make him a poor selection for the slot. Over his career, Bailey has recorded modest point totals while playing a 200 foot game and serving as a veteran character player on Long Island. Now, the winger serves as the longest-tenured member of the Islanders.
Due respect to Colten Teubert, who the Kings originally selected thirteenth overall, however had they been able to and opted to select Bailey, they surely would have been better served. Even if Bailey wasn’t the best choice for the Kings, the simple fact alone that he has played nearly 1,000 NHL games as compared to Teubert’s 24 would make Bailey an excellent alternative. The Kings did get value out of Teubert after all, trading him along with a pair of draft picks to acquire forward Dustin Penner, who would go on to win a Stanley Cup in Los Angeles.
We now turn our attention to the fourteenth overall pick which belonged to the Carolina Hurricanes. With their pick, Carolina selected a forward already playing for the Hurricanes: Zach Boychuk from the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes. Boychuk had already established himself as one of the best players in junior hockey when Carolina selected him and continued down that path with another impressive season after. In addition to a fourth straight dominant WHL season, Boychuk was also able to make his NHL debut that season, suiting up for a pair of October contests with Carolina. Boychuk became a full-time pro in 2009-10, splitting time between the NHL and AHL, recording nine points in 31 games for Carolina and 36 points in 52 games with the Albany River Rats.
Although it wasn’t a superstar pro debut, Boychuk’s performance was respectable and created plenty of excitement for him to build on his success the year after, and build he did. In 2010-11, the forward recorded a phenomenal 65 points in 60 games in the AHL. Still, he couldn’t repeat that success at the NHL level, with just seven points over 23 games. Ultimately, this would be the pitfall of Boychuk’s NHL career. As he continued to impress in the AHL and become a key piece of the Charlotte Checkers, he simply couldn’t repeat that success up in the NHL. After just two points in 16 games in 2011-12, Boychuk bounced around the following year, playing with Carolina, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators before returning to the Carolina organization.
Boychuk would spend parts of three more seasons with the origination, his last NHL action coming in 31 games in 2014-15. After the 2015-16 season, Boychuk left North America in pursuit of opportunities in Europe, where he would find success and regular roles. The now-veteran spent parts of three seasons in the KHL, followed by parts of two seasons in Switzerland, and finally three more in Germany, where he’s currently a member of the Berlin Polar Bears of the DEL.
With the chance to do it over again, it’s likely the Hurricanes would go with another name at fourteenth overall. As good of a pro as Boychuk has been, his 30 points in 127 NHL games simply wouldn’t warrant a selection with names such as Tyler Myers, Adam Henrique, Gustav Nyquist or Derek Stepan still left on the board. So, with the fourteenth overall selection in our 2008 redraft, who should Carolina select?
2008 Redraft: Fourteenth Overall
-
Adam Henrique 25% (133)
-
Tyler Myers 16% (86)
-
Derek Stepan 15% (79)
-
Gustav Nyquist 13% (69)
-
Jake Allen 6% (34)
-
Zach Bogosian 4% (22)
-
Justin Schultz 3% (17)
-
Travis Hamonic 3% (16)
-
Luke Schenn 3% (15)
-
Jake Gardiner 2% (11)
-
Marco Scandella 2% (8)
-
Zach Boychuk 1% (7)
-
Matt Martin 1% (5)
-
Tyler Ennis 1% (5)
-
Michael Del Zotto 1% (5)
-
Matt Calvert 1% (5)
-
Mikkel Boedker 1% (3)
-
Zack Smith 1% (3)
-
Jason Demers 0% (2)
-
Colin Wilson 0% (2)
Total votes: 527
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Evening Notes: O’Reilly, Columbus, Jones
When the NHL’s free agency window opens next summer, few players project to be as valuable on the market as St. Louis Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly. The forward is entering the final year of a seven-year, $52.5MM deal and though he’ll be 32 years old when he hits free agency, he will in all likelihood find another fairly long-term deal somewhere near the $7.5MM AAV he currently holds. The impending free agency is also a driving force behind the Blues’ decision to extend young forwards Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou with matching eight-year, $65MM contracts now, insuring against an O’Reilly departure. Perhaps not to worry though, as O’Reilly told the media, including NHL.com’s Lou Korac, that he would like to remain with the Blues going forward and that some form of dialogue has already started. Still, the former Selke winner cautioned that he feels “no real urgency” to get a deal done right now. O’Reilly admitted that when he was a younger player, there may have been a feeling of more urgency, but now he understands that he has other things he needs to focus on first with the start of the season, and understands that Blues GM Doug Armstrong has other things to focus on right now too.
- Aaron Portzline of The Athletic provided updates on a pair of important Columbus Blue Jackets centers. Team Captain Boone Jenner was absent from training camp today as head coach Brad Larsen attempts to manage his workload early in training camp as the veteran comes off an injury which forced him to miss the final 23 games of last season. Assuring Jenner stays fresh and healthy heading into the season will be important for Columbus, who will rely on him, among others, for important secondary scoring behind their pair of superstar wingers in Patrik Laine and Johnny Gaudreau. Also of note is Cole Sillinger, who is listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury after a collision on the first day of training camp.
- Amid the teardown and rebuild of the Chicago Blackhawks, defenseman Seth Jones told Ben Pope of The Chicago Sun-Times he has no regrets about signing his eight-year extension with the team last summer. He admitted seeing many of his teammates traded over the past few months was frustrating, but said he plans to look at the bigger picture and be patient, this year especially. Locked in for eight more seasons at a $9.5MM AAV, Jones figures to be one of the only Blackhawks not moved out in the rebuild, but the star blueliner will have the opportunity over the life of the contract to be part of the future structure as the team tries to rise to prominence once again.
Minor Transactions: 09/23/22
We’re just one day away from the official start of the NHL’s preseason calendar, with a unique slate of games scheduled for tomorrow. In addition to the Boston Bruins paying a visit to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Arizona Coyotes and St. Louis Blues will face-off against one another from Wichita, Kansas in a neutral-site contest. Perhaps most interesting are the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, who seem to have pulled a page right out of the baseball playbook with the team’s playing a split-squad, day-night doubleheader including a 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm puck drop in Toronto. With all that action, there are several notes from around the league worth mentioning, primarily related to the opening of camp and the beginning of games, which we will keep track of here:
- It appears the Arizona Coyotes have sent 2022 first-round pick Maveric Lamoureux back to juniors ahead of training camp (link). Given the defenseman’s age and raw skillset, as well as Arizona’s position in their rebuild, it wasn’t likely Lamoureux was going to make a major impact in camp and the team likely felt he was best served by heading back to the Drummondville Voltigeurs now rather than later.
- Also sent back to juniors was Boston Bruins prospect Brett Harrison (link). A third-round pick in 2021, Harrison may have had the opportunity to raise eyes in training camp with Boston, however the forward projects to be a standout with the Oshawa Generals this season after tallying 61 points in 65 games last season. Oshawa kicks off its 2022-23 regular season in Barrie this Thursday.
- A number of players have been officially activated off of injured-reserve today. Though many of these are not a surprise, some did come with question marks and in the wake of the recent injury updates around the league, particularly Sean Couturier of the Flyers, not everything can always be taken as a given. The Pittsburgh Penguins activated recently-signed forward Drake Caggiula (link). Moving out west, the Vancouver Canucks have activated forward Nils Hoglander and defenseman Tucker Poolman off of IR (link). In the desert, the Vegas Golden Knights activated forwards Brett Howden and Reilly Smith (link).
Preseason Notes: Jarry, Oilers Injuries, Senators Cuts
Tristan Jarry was in a bad spot after the 2020-21 season. His mistakes at crucial moments heavily contributed to the Penguins’ season-ending first-round loss to the New York Islanders, and there was speculation that offseason on whether the Penguins would go in a new direction in their crease. But last year Jarry issued a powerful response to those doubters, going 34-18-6 with a .919 save percentage in 58 games played. Jarry looked every bit like an elite goalie and ranked just outside the top five goalies in save percentage and goals-against-average.
While we didn’t get a chance to see Jarry play extended time in the Penguins’ playoff games, that hasn’t kept the Penguins from firmly believing in Jarry as their long-term solution in net. Jarry is set to be an unrestricted free agent next summer, though, so his contract status could possibly keep him from being a Penguin long-term. That being said, the Penguins are likely to make every effort to keep him in Pittsburgh. Speaking to the media today, GM Ron Hextall said (as relayed by Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Tribune) that the team had begun extension talks with Jarry and is fully invested in retaining him. For a team that is intent on remaining competitive for the rest of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang‘s careers, it’s easy to see why they’d want to get a Jarry extension done as soon as possible.
Now, for some other notes from across the NHL:
- Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft issued a few injury updates today. Per Woodcroft, as covered by The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman, defenseman Vincent Desharnais sustained a “minor injury,” winger Carter Savoie was injured during the team’s prospect tournament and is “out long-term,” and prospect forward Raphael Lavoie “won’t participate” in training camp after finishing last season injured. These updates do have implications for the Oilers’ roster, as Desharnais was expected to compete for a depth role on the team’s blueline, and Lavoie was seemingly entering a do-or-die training camp battle to impress Oilers brass after two straight up-and-down seasons at the AHL level.
- The Ottawa Senators announced three cuts from their training camp today, sending prospects Chandler Romeo, Reid Valade, and Dalyn Wakely to their OHL clubs. Romeo, 19, was a seventh-round pick of the Senators at the 2021 draft while Valade and Wakely have each not been drafted. All three were not expected to play significant roles at training camp or in the preseason.
Snapshots: Gaudette, Lightning Penalty Kill, Lundkvist
While the Toronto Maple Leafs are undoubtedly a team centered around star power, in recent years the organization hasn’t been afraid to give lesser-known players the chance to take the next steps in their careers. Last season, 26-year-old rookie Michael Bunting earned a spot next to Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, and played well enough to make the 2021-22 All-Rookie team. At this year’s training camp, it looks as though another under-the-radar player could get a massive opportunity in Toronto.
Per Jonas Siegel of The Athletic, the Maple Leafs have started camp with forward Adam Gaudette on a line with Marner and captain John Tavares. Additionally, Siegel notes that Gaudette will get looks on the team’s top power-play unit in the preseason. Gaudette, the 2017-18 Hobey Baker Award winner, has struggled in recent years to live up to the hype he had as a college hockey star. After a 2019-20 campaign that saw him post 33 points in 59 games, the holes in Gaudette’s all-around game led the Canucks to trade him to the Blackhawks. Gaudette played just 15 games in Chicago before heading to Ottawa as a waiver claim, and he had 12 points in 50 games as a Senator last season. He was not qualified by the team this summer, and then Gaudette signed a one-year, league-minimum deal in Toronto. At this point it, looks as though the Leafs will give Gaudette every chance to showcase his offensive talent and far outproduce what is typically expected from a player on a 750k cap hit.
Now, for some other notes from across the NHL:
- The Detroit Red Wings parted ways with coach Jeff Blashill this summer, and hired former Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach Derek Lalonde to fill that vacated role. Now, it seems a similar situation is playing out in Tampa. Today, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said (as relayed by The Athletic’s Joe Smith) that Blashill has taken over Lalonde’s old role in Tampa running the team’s penalty kill. Cooper also notes that with the departures of Jan Rutta, Ryan McDonagh, players like Ian Cole and Cal Foote will see roles on the penalty kill this season.
- Nils Lundkvist got his wish earlier this week, as the Dallas Stars traded two picks, including a first-rounder, to acquire him from the New York Rangers. Some questioned why the Stars would pay such a high price for a player with very little NHL experience, but it’s clear the Stars were undeterred by those concerns. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on the 32 Thoughts podcast today that the Stars had been attempting to acquire Lundkvist for “seven to eight months,” and Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek added that the Stars had a strong interest in Lundkvist going back to the 2018 draft. While the Stars’ longstanding interest in acquiring him won’t alone earn Lundkvist a top-four role in camp, it does speak to why the organization felt confident in sending those picks in order to acquire Lundkvist.
Boston Bruins Sign Anton Stralman To PTO
Saturday: The Bruins have made the PTO official with a release on their site this morning. Boston visits the Philadelphia Flyers this evening for their first preseason contest, but it doesn’t appear Stralman will draw in, as he wasn’t skating at practice this morning, details The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa.
Friday: The Bruins have made a late addition to their training camp roster, signing veteran defenseman Anton Stralman to a professional tryout agreement, per The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun.
Stralman had been lingering on the market as an unrestricted free agent to this point, and while some speculated that retirement could be a possibility for the 36-year-old Stralman communicated a clear desire to continue his career.
In Boston, Stralman will vie for a chance to reinforce a blueline that will be without two crucial players at the start of the regular season. Both Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk are expected to remain unavailable by the time the Bruins take on the Capitals on October 12th. This could give Stralman a leg up as he competes for a role on the Bruins’ defense, as the team could prefer to have Stralman, who has nearly 1,000 games of NHL experience, in their lineup rather than less experienced in-house options such as Jakub Zboril or Jack Ahcan.
Stralman isn’t the quality top-four blueliner he once was, but on a talent-poor Arizona Coyotes team last season Stralman scored a healthy 23 points in 74 games and played more than 21 minutes per night. In a more limited role in Boston, he could find success.
For Stralman, this PTO signing leaves him less secure in his future than a regular NHL contract would, but he nonetheless has a strong opportunity in front of him to earn NHL time.
The Bruins are a good team who also, at least on paper, look to have room for him to win a spot on their blueline. If Stralman can have a good camp and show up well in the preseason, he could see himself wearing Bruins colors for longer than just the preseason.
Joonas Korpisalo Not Yet Cleared For Games
While there’s no doubt about who will be the starter for the Columbus Blue Jackets this season – Elvis Merzlikins appeared in 59 games last year – it’s not exactly clear who will be the primary backup. The team brought back Joonas Korpisalo on a one-year, $1.3MM contract but also signed Daniil Tarasov to a three-year deal with an average annual value of $1.05MM.
The thing is, both Korpisalo and Tarasov are coming off hip surgeries.
Korpisalo, 28, has still not been cleared for game action and there is no timetable yet according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. The goaltender hopes to play in the preseason, but it is more likely that we see Tarasov first. Portzline notes that Tarasov’s surgery was about a month ahead of Korpisalo’s, meaning he’s ahead in the recovery process.
There is also simply the fact that Korpisalo hasn’t been very good recently. In 22 appearances last season he posted an .877 save percentage and whopping goals against average of 4.15. The 23-year-old Tarasov meanwhile posted a .937 in four NHL appearances, though his professional experience in North America is limited to just 21 games to this point.
Given the fact that Columbus is focused on competing this season, after signing Johnny Gaudreau in the offseason, should Korpisalo start slowly it will be difficult for the team to stick with him. Tarasov is waiver-exempt and can be sent to the minor leagues, but will get his chance at some point to prove he’s ready for the NHL.
Jake McCabe Undergoes Surgery
Sep 23: When training camp started this week and McCabe was on the ice, it was a surprising sight given how recently the team announced he had surgery. Turns out, McCabe actually had that surgery six weeks ago, so he is already halfway through his recovery according to Tracey Myers of NHL.com.
Sep 13: The Chicago Blackhawks will not have Jake McCabe in the lineup when the season begins, as he recently underwent cervical spine surgery and will be out for 10-12 weeks. McCabe is entering the second season of a four-year, $16MM contract he signed in 2021. Prospect Jalen Luypen will also be out for 14-18 weeks after suffering a rotator cuff injury.
It’s a tough blow for a player that has dealt with injury throughout his career, including a knee issue that took almost all of 2020-21 and limited his play early last season. McCabe eventually would suit up 75 times for the Blackhawks, setting a career-high with 22 points while averaging more than 20 minutes a night.
Now, with a timeline that could potentially take him out until December, McCabe will be fighting another uphill battle. Still just 28 years old, there’s plenty of time for him to recover and get back to being a capable NHL defenseman, but where he fits into Chicago’s future isn’t clear. The team is in a tank phase as they move through a rebuild, and will soon want to give their younger options a chance to show what they can do at the NHL level. That isn’t right away — as shown by the Jack Johnson signing — but it’s hard to see McCabe being a regular contributor by the time the team is ready to compete again.
For now, it is just another long rehab for McCabe to go through. To this point in his nine-year NHL career, he has yet to play in more than 77 games during a single season.