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Salary Cap Deep Dive: New York Rangers

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Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert 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 2018-19 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of 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: $73,823,569 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Pavel Buchnevich (one year remaining, $925K)
D Neal Pionk (one year remaining, $925K)
F Lias Andersson (three years remaining, $894K)
F Filip Chytil (three years remaining, $894K)
D Anthony DeAngelo (one year remaining, $863K)
G Alexandar Georgiev (two years remaining, $793K)

Potential Bonuses

Pionk: $850K
Andersson: $850K
Deangelo: $400K
Chytil: $350K

Total: $2.45MM

With the team in quick rebuild mode, there are some entry-level deals already and if the team continues to trend in that direction, they will have quite a bit more. The team’s most prominent player at the NHL level to date would be Buchnevich, who improved on his rookie campaign with a 14-goal, 43-point season last year. He saw more ice time as well, improving from 13:16 ATOI to 15:01 as well as saw significant time on the team’s power play, potting five goals and 11 assists with the man advantage and has earned himself a solid spot in the team’s top-six. Another improved season could see him being an expensive restricted free agent.

The team has high expectations for their two 2017 first-rounders in Andersson and Chytil. Both have shown excellent skills and have received some time playing for the NHL with Andersson seeing seven games, while saw nine games. Both are expected to earn time with the Rangers out of training camp, but both may find themselves on bottom-six lines unless they can prove that they can center the second or third lines in training camp.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

F Kevin Hayes ($5.18MM, UFA)
F Mats Zuccarello ($4.5MM, UFA)
D Rob O’Gara ($874K, RFA)
F Cody McLeod ($750K, UFA)
D Fredrik Claesson ($863K, RFA)
F Peter Holland ($675K, UFA)
D Steven Kampfer ($650K, UFA)
G Marek Mazanec ($650K, UFA)

The team agreed to a one-year deal with Hayes, avoiding arbitration, but now face the possibility that Hayes could walk away at the end of the season as he will be unrestricted, which will force the team into two possible directions, including attempting to work out a long-term deal with the team after Jan. 1, 2019, or trading him, possibly at the trading deadline if the two sides can’t agree on anything. Hayes, who has been a jack of all trades playing multiple positions, seems to have developed into a solid center as he produced his best season ever, which included 25 goals, eight more than any previous year. The question is, do the Rangers view him as a fixture in their lineup as they continue to rebuild?

At age 30, Zuccarrello still puts up solid numbers, but despite the high-end minutes that the veteran gets, he falls into a similar category to that of Hayes where you have to ask whether he is in the team’s long-term plans. The winger is penciled in to play on the team’s top line once again, but has only put up 31 goals over the past two seasons. He does produce quite a few assists (81 over the past two years), but what the Rangers need more than anything is goals. Zuccarello will also turn 32 before he begins his next contract and at that age, how long are the Rangers willing to commit to him?

Two Years Remaining

F Chris Kreider ($4.63MM, UFA)
F Ryan Spooner ($4MM, UFA)
F Vladislav Namestnikov ($4MM, UFA)
F Jimmy Vesey ($2.28MM, UFA)
F Matt Beleskey ($1.9MM, UFA)
F Jesper Fast ($1.85MM, UFA)

Kreider is coming off a tough year in which he had to deal with blood clots and had surgery to relieve the pressure and missed almost two months of time. The 27-year-old didn’t have as solid of a season as he tallied just 16 goals in 58 games, which is a far cry from the 28 goals he scored in 2016-17 although a lot of that is due to the fact that his playing time dipped as the team didn’t want to play him too many minutes due to the blood clot issue. Regardless with a full offseason to rest and recuperate, Kreider should be able to bounce back as one of the team’s top scorers.

The team also have high expectations from two other forwards that the team acquired through at the trade deadline a year ago in Namestnikov and Spooner. Namestnikov was the biggest name to arrive in New York in the Ryan McDonagh trade with Tampa Bay. He was a key player for the Lightning, posting 20 goals and 44 points with them, but he actually lost playing time once he arrived in New York and put up just two goals and four points in 19 games. The team hopes that a new coach and proper training camp with his new team will make quite a difference. Spooner came over in the Rick Nash trade with Boston and has posted solid numbers with the Bruins over the past few seasons and could turn out to be a top-six wing or third-line center in New York. Between the two teams, Spooner combined for 13 goals and 28 assists.

The team also expect big things from Vesey, who signed as a undrafted collegiate free agent a couple of years ago and if finally starting to show that he belongs in the NHL. The 25-year-old winger has put up solid numbers for two years, but could find himself getting more opportunities in the team’s rebuild. In two years, he’s combined for 33 goals and 55 points.

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Rangers Likely To Trade A Center This Offseason

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With many teams in the league looking for center help this offseason and seeing few options on the free agent market, the trade market seems to be the best way to fill that heavily in-demand. Just earlier this week, the Montreal Canadiens traded Alex Galchenyuk, who failed to succeed at the center position for the team in previous years, to Arizona. The Coyotes have already stated they intend to move him back to center in hopes that he can make the conversion and fill their No. 2 center hole.

The New York Rangers seem to be in a unique situation. Despite the franchise suddenly finding themselves in rebuilding mode, the one thing the Rangers have plenty of is reliable centers. In fact, the team has eight potential centers currently on the roster, including Mika Zibanejad, Kevin Hayes, Lias Andersson, Filip Chytil, Vladislav Namestnikov, Ryan Spooner, Boo Nieves and Brett Howden. While some of those eight will be forced to move to the wing position, there is also a strong possibility that the team will move at least one of those centers during the offseason, and very possibly, before next week’s draft.

Larry Brooks of the New York Post writes that while the team has a solid combination of Zibanejad, Chytil, Hayes and Andersson currently penciled in as their top four centers next season, that’s a logjam at that position that likely would not aid the development of Chytil and Andersson, two teenagers who need as much playing time as possible at the NHL level. Andersson especially, last year’s No. 7 pick in the 2017 draft, needs time on the ice and a fourth-line role isn’t going to cut it.

The scribe writes that Hayes may be available after quietly putting up a career-high 25 goals while playing center for New York last year. The restricted free agent is in line for a potential five-year deal worth about $4.5MM per year based on his success last season and there is no guarantee that Hayes would earn the No. 2 center spot with all this depth. Regardless, Hayes would be a highly coveted commodity for many teams who are in desperate need for help at that position.

The key for the Rangers is to trade him straight out for help on their blueline, according to Brooks, who adds that New York is unlikely to use Hayes as part of a package to move up in the draft. The team’s biggest need is at defense and there are many teams that could use a center and have defense to trade, including the Calgary Flames who might be ready to move Dougie Hamilton.

Morning Notes: Free Agency, Veilleux, Sweden

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Though we’re only partway through the second round of the playoffs, many fans have already started dreaming about what could happen on July 1st in free agency. Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required) gives us an update on each of his top-20 free agents, including superstar John Tavares.

Obviously Custance can’t handicap a market, but he does mention the San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues as potential pursuers if the New York Islanders’ captain does hit free agency. Tavares would have almost every team checking in should he get to the negotiating window a few days before July 1st.

  • The Halifax Mooseheads have hired a new head coach for the 2018-19 season. Eric Veilleux will be behind the bench for the QMJHL squad next season, fresh off his own departure from the Colorado Avalanche AHL affiliate. Veilleux has plenty of experience in the Q, having played there as a junior and coached for nearly a decade.
  • The IIHF handed out several suspensions yesterday to the Swedish World Junior squad, after the incidents that occurred after this year’s gold medal game. Players and coaches removed their medals before the post-game event was over, including captain Lias Andersson who tossed it into the crowd in frustration. Interestingly though, of the players suspended only goaltender Olle Eriksson Ek could realistically return to the tournament. The others—Andersson, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Jesper Boqvist and Rasmus Dahlin—have either graduated through age or are expected to be in the NHL full-time next year. Perhaps the biggest hit will be the coaching suspensions, which includes a three-game ban for head coach Tomas Monten.

Snapshots: Sweden, Voynov, Yawney

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Sweden released their preliminary roster for the upcoming World Championships, and it is loaded with NHL talent. John Klingberg, Adam Larsson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Erik Gustafsson, Adrian Kempe, Mikael Backlund, Johan Larsson, Mattias Janmark, Lias Andersson, Jacob de La Rose, Magnus Paajarvi and Mika Zibanejad will all be heading to the tournament for the Swedes.

Though obviously this group is missing some of their top options like Erik Karlsson and Henrik Zetterberg, it will also have some very interesting young players filling the gaps. Vegas Golden Knights draft pick Erik Brannstrom will be among the defense corps, and Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 in Vancouver expects Elias Pettersson will be added soon.

  • There have been some conflicting reports on Slava Voynov’s potential return to the NHL, but Arthur Staple of The Athletic can make one thing very clear. The New York Islanders have not reached out to anyone connected to the former NHL player, and have “zero interest” in bringing him aboard. Whether or not any team will actually sign the 28-year old defenseman is still unclear.
  • The Anaheim Ducks will not bring back assistant coach Trent Yawney next season, choosing not to renew his contract. Yawney has been with the Ducks organization for seven seasons, first as head coach of their AHL affiliate (Syracuse, then Norfolk) and the last four seasons as an assistant to Bruce Boudreau and Randy Carlyle in the NHL.

Rangers’ David Desharnais Headed to KHL

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With the New York Rangers in rebuilding mode and the expected full-time roles that are likely to be given to top prospects Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil, the writing looked to be on the wall for veteran center David Desharnais. Now, European insider Igor Eronko reports that the 31-year-old Desharnais intends to continue his career overseas with the KHL.

Desharnais was unlikely to return to New York as he will be an unrestricted free agent in July. He signed a one-year, $1MM contract last summer to help offset the Rangers’ losses of Derek Stepan, who the team traded to Arizona, and Oscar Lindberg, who the team lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft. The team had hopes that Andersson might make the team out of training camp, but also wanted insurance in case the 18-year-old didn’t. Desharnais provided that depth after Andersson was returned to Sweden, and played 71 games, but tallied just six goals and 28 points this season.

While there is no word on whether he has a deal in place, Desharnais has spent most of his career in North America, having only played 16 games during the 2012-13 strike in Switzerland. Desharnais played most of his career for the Montreal Canadiens and had several good seasons, including 60-point, 52-point and 48-point seasons between 2011 to 2015 seasons. However injuries have derailed his career and the veteran has struggled to hold onto his roster spot as the Canadiens traded him to the Edmonton Oilers last season for their playoff run, while the Oilers opted not to re-sign him last offseason.

Minor Transactions: 4/7/2018

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With a full-slate of 15 games today on the final weekend of the regular season, most teams will wrap up their regular season today and the playoff order should be more clarified by the end of the night. Most prominent will be which team clinches the final playoff spots. A Philadelphia point will give them the Eastern Conference’s final spot over the Florida Panthers, while the Colorado Avalanche and the St. Louis Blues will play for the right for the final spot in the West. Colorado needs a regulation victory tonight to vault themselves into the playoffs. In the meantime, several teams are making minor changes for the final weekend of the regular season.

  • The Arizona Coyotes announced they have recalled defenseman Joel Hanley on an emergency basis. The 26-year-old has played four games with the Coyotes this year, having spent most of his season with the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL, putting up two goals and 17 assists in 50 games. ArizonaSports Craig Morgan adds the move was made as defenseman Kevin Connaugton is a little banged up.
  • The Ottawa Senators announced they have recalled defenseman Andreas Englund from the Belleville Senators of the AHL and is expected to play today as Ben Harpur is injured. Englund was recalled back in December, but didn’t play in a game. The 22-year-old former second-round pick had one goal and nine assists in 66 games for Belleville.
  • The New Jersey Devils announced they have recalled defenseman Steven Santini and goaltender Eddie Lack. Both were recalled as the Devils are expected to rest numerous players today, including Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac and Sami Vatanen. With Cory Schneider getting the call to start in goal today, it’s likely the team also intends to rest starter Keith Kinkaid. The 23-year-old Santini has played in 36 games for New Jersey and 27 for Binghampton. Lack will likely serve as backup tonight. He has appeared in eight games this year, four with New Jersey.
  • With the New York Rangers’ season over after Saturday’s 5-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Rangers announced they have assigned forwards Filip Chytil, Lias Andersson and Steven Fogarty to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL for their upcoming playoff run. Chytil and Andersson were both recalled on Mar. 26 with Chytil picking up a goal and two assists in six games. Andersson had a goal and an assist in those six games. Fogarty was recalled last night and didn’t get into a game.

East Notes: Duchene, Peters, Foegele, Rangers

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Although negotiations can’t begin until July 1st, Senators center Matt Duchene acknowledged to Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch that he is open to discussing a long-term contract extension to remain with the team.  Ottawa picked up Duchene in an early-season trade with Colorado and while he struggled early on, he has picked up his play in recent weeks, recording 25 points in 26 games since February 1st.

The 27-year-old carries a $6MM cap hit through 2018-19 while his salary increases to $6.5MM for next season as well.  It’s likely that he will be looking for a similar, if not bigger, deal in order to put pen to paper on an early extension with the Senators and forego his first foray into unrestricted free agency.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters has an opt-out in his contract that will permit him to see what other opportunities might be out there, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (video link). This is his fourth season with Carolina and unless they pull off a stunning run and get some luck along the way over the next two weeks, he will have missed the postseason in each of those years.  Peters has one year remaining on his contract.
  • Still with Carolina, the Hurricanes announced that they have recalled winger Warren Foegele from Charlotte of the AHL. The 21-year-old is in his first professional season and sits tied for seventh in the AHL in goals with 26 in 65 games with the Checkers.  This is his first recall to Carolina.
  • The Rangers have promoted their top two center prospects, announcing that they’ve recalled Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil from Hartford of the AHL. The two players were New York’s first-round picks back at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.  The timing is particularly noteworthy – the Rangers have seven games left which means neither player will reach the ten game mark to burn the first year of their entry-level deals; while this will be Andersson’s first taste of the NHL, Chytil played in two games at the beginning of the season.

Snapshots: Andersson, Chytil, Gaudette, Sikura

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The New York Rangers rebuild might continue at a new level next week as NHL.com’s Dan Rosen writes that Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault, general manager Jeff Gorton and assistant general manager Chris Drury will talk later today about promoting 2017 first-round centers Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil.

Both first-round picks have fared well this season. Andersson, the seventh overall pick last year, started the season in the SHL, where he put up seven goals and seven assists in 22 games. He played in the World Junior Tournament and helped Sweden to a silver medal and then came to the U.S. and joined the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. There he’s put up five goals and 14 points in 23 games. Chytil, on the other hand, started the season in New York and played two games before the team decided to assign him to Hartford. There in 44 games, Chytil, the No. 21 pick last year, has put up 11 goals and 20 assists.

Rosen said if the Vigneault, Gorton and Drury agree, the two prospects could be inserted into the Rangers’ lineup as soon as Monday.

  • With the elimination of Northeastern University from the NCAA tournament, that could be good news for the Vancouver Canucks who will try to pry prized prospect Adam Gaudette from his collegiate team now that his season is over. In fact, Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal tweets that he’s heard from a source that says contract negotiations are expected to heat up tomorrow. The college junior was the Canucks fifth-round pick in 2015 and has put up 56 goals and 56 assists in his last two seasons with Northeastern. TSN’s Bob McKenzie also adds that the Canucks are expected to make a strong pitch to the 21-year-old center who is a top Hobey Baker Award candidate this year. Gaudette is expected to meet with his family/advisor soon.
  • Also, as reported earlier today, Northeastern’s elimination also fuels the report that the Chicago Blackhawks and Dylan Sikura will be coming to an agreement soon. Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times has a new update in which a league source has confirmed that Sikura will be in a Blackhawks uniform on Thursday.

New York Rangers Assign Lias Andersson To AHL

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In an interesting move, the New York Rangers assigned top pick Lias Andersson to the AHL. The young forward had been on loan to Frolunda in Sweden, but will now join the Rangers organization and suit up for the Hartford Wolf Pack. The team has also recalled Anthony DeAngelo and Daniel Catenacci as they deal with injuries to Kevin Hayes and Marc Staal.

Andersson was part of the silver medal-winning Swedish World Junior Team earlier this month, captaining the squad even through a shoulder injury and recording seven points in seven games. He infamously threw his medal into the crowd after receiving it, frustrated by the late goal Sweden allowed to lose the tournament. Though he eventually got the medal returned and expressed his regret for the action, it certainly will go down as part of international hockey lore as Sweden continues to struggle in the medal rounds of the U20 tournament.

More importantly, an assignment to the AHL could mean Andersson is on his way to the Rangers this season. Impressive in training camp, there was some speculation that he would start the year with the team despite his young age and inexperience. With 14 points in 22 SHL games, Andersson once again showed off his high upside at both ends of the rink and could be an option for the Rangers up front at some point this season.

Pacific Notes: Raanta, Perry, Carter, Couture, Marchessault

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Nothing went exactly the way that Arizona Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta had hoped in the first half of the season. However, one thing the goaltender hopes is that he can prove to his team that he is a number one netminder, something he hasn’t accomplished so far this year, according to Arizona Sports Craig Morgan.

Acquired as part of a major package this offseason along with center Derek Stepan for defensive prospect Anthony DeAngelo and the seventh-overall pick in the 2017 draft (Lias Andersson), Raanta was supposed to make people forget about longtime veteran Mike Smith, who the team traded to Calgary in the offseason. Instead, Raanta has spent quite a bit of time on injured reserve with two lower-body ailments and a concussion and has only appeared in 21 games, posting a 2.82 GAA and a .915 save percentage.

“I’m waiting for him to get into a rhythm,” general manager John Chayka said Tuesday. “I don’t think you can evaluate him until he gets into a rhythm. There have been some games, Colorado is one (a 3-1 win on Dec. 27) where I thought he played exceptionally well. I’m hoping now is that time when he can get on a roll and solidify things for us in net.”

The 28-year-old netminder will be an unrestricted free-agent this summer and the team must decide over the next three and a half months whether Raanta is their goalie of the future and if he is worth locking up to a long-term deal.

  • Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register writes that Anaheim Ducks winger Corey Perry is set to return to the Ducks lineup tonight after missing 11 straight games with a knee injury. This will be the first time this year that Perry will get an opportunity to play with Ryan Kesler and Ryan Getzlaf. Kesler came back on Dec. 11, the same day that Perry went down, while Getzlaf hadn’t returned at that point. The three made one of the top lines in hockey in recent years. In 31 games before the injury, Perry has six goals and 16 assists.
  • While there is no timetable for his return, Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider writes that Los Angeles Kings veteran center Jeff Carter has been much more visible in the last week. He’s shed the Roll-A-Bout and crutches and is walking around without a boot. He has suffered no setbacks so far since he was injured on Oct. 18 and required ankle surgery. “Progression-wise and everything he’s doing right now shows he will be back this season,” Blake said.
  • Paul Gackle of The Mercury News writes that center Logan Couture has finally found his pre-concussion form after Friday’s three assist night against Ottawa. Couture, who had been leading the team in scoring before going down with a head injury on Dec. 15. The scribe writes that Couture, who has struggled in his first three games back after missing four games, looked like the old Couture Friday. “He’s coming off an injury where you never know how long it takes to feel good again,” head coach Peter DeBoer said. “He was obviously good again tonight.”
  • One fact about the six-year, $30MM contract that Vegas Golden Knights winger Jon Marchessault signed earlier this week is that it has a modified no-trade clause in it, tweets SinBin. Details on the specifics of the NTC, however, is unknown, according to CapFriendly.

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