Rangers are over the salary cap and could lose a big player.

Big moves may cost the Rangers a big name.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Rangers are over the salary cap and could lose a big player.
Keystone Press

The New York Rangers and general manager Jeff Gorton have put on a master class in how to rebuild a franchise that has sacrificed picks and prospects after several years of going for a Stanley Cup Championship. The turn around for the organization has been a staggering one and with the addition of players like defenseman Jacob Trouba, star forward Artemi Panarin, and a young star of the future in Kaapo Kakko no one would try to argue that the move from Gorton was the right one to make. 

That being said the brilliant turn around from the Rangers has not been perfect and the Rangers management team now faces one of the toughest decisions they have had to make in some time, a decision regarding which players they will shed this summer. After signing Trouba to a huge new deal that will see the talented defenseman earn $8 million over each of the next 7 season and Panarin to a monster contract that will see him earn $11.6 million over each of the next 7 seasons, the Rangers find themselves over the salary cap and moves must be bad. 

In a recent article for the New York Post Rangers insider Brett Cyrgalis touched on 4 possible moves that we might see coming from the Rangers this summer, all of which would see them shedding a significant player from their roster. The big ticket move on the list was a potential trade involving veteran forward Chris Kreider a player with just 1 year left on his deal but one who carries a cap hit of $4.625 million for next season. According to Cyrgalis there's also the possibility of dealing Vladislav Namestnikov but the 26 year old would fetch a much lesser return than Kreider to be sure. 

Interestingly enough the Rangers will get to use the second buyout window thanks to having an unsigned restricted free agent headed to arbitration in the form of Pavel Buchnevich. Buchnevich is just one of 3 RFAs on the Rangers roster, the others being Brendan Lemieux and Tony DeAngelo, that will further complicate the Rangers cap situation should they be signed. That buyout window Cyrgalis suggests could be used on defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk who has taken a significant step back since signing his big contract with the blue shirts, or alternatively on  Brendan Smith who Cyrgalis believes the Rangers may simply bury in the minors. 

It remains to be seen how the Rangers will make their cap situation work, but they have roughly just one month to do so and very few options on the table.

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