Rangers ready to buy out contracts after failed trade attempts?!

Every option is being considered in New York City to get the Rangers ready for next season after many significant changes have been made in the past two seasons. 

However, this is not expected to stop general manager Jeff Gorton from deciding to buy out one or two contracts from players on his roster. 

As he spoke to the New York Post, Gordon revealed he is considering buying out contract to shed some cap space this summer. 

“It’s on the table,” Gorton said. “And regardless of what we do with this buyout window, we’d certainly look at the second one, too, depending on what comes up over the next few weeks. A lot can happen.”

Larry Brooks of The Post speculates that defensemen Brendan Smith and Kevin Shattenkirk could both be options for the Rangers, seeing that the team has found no interest in either player on the trade market despite a willingness to retain up to 50 per cent of their salaries.

That says a lot. 

Smith signed a four-year, $17.4 million contract with the Rangers in 2017, months after being acquired at the trade deadline from the Detroit Red Wings. Buying him out would free up $3.38 million in cap space next season and $1.2 million in 2020-21, but leave the Rangers with a $1.15 million cap hit in each of the next two seasons.

As for Shattenkirk, he signed a four-year, $26.6 million contract with the Rangers in 2017.  However, he hasn’t achieve the same succeed with the Rangers as he previously did with the Washington Capitals or St. Louis Blues. His buyout would save the Rangers $5.17 million in cap space next season and $567,000 in 2020-21, with a $1.43 million cap penalty in each of the following two years.

The Rangers are rumoured to be interest in signing coveted pending free agent Erik Kalrsson and could use every penny they save to lock him down. The Rangers are currently projected to have $19 million in cap space this summer with 19 players already under contract.