The New York Rangers vs. the Salary Cap

Today, the New York Rangers extended goalie Henrik Lundqvist through 2021, or, until "The King" is 39. Obviously, this wasn't a cheap move for the Rangers. It'll cost them $8.5m per year, or $59.5m over the next seven seasons. That's roughly $1.6m more than the current cap hit for the Swede. Going through his worst season in recent memory, this deal could lift a giant weight, allowing Lundqvist to hit the form that dragged the Rangers into last years playoffs, and help Sweden in the upcoming Sochi Olympics.

The King - aka The $59.5m Man

With Lundqvist signed, the Rangers now have nine players (two goalies) signed on for the 2014-15 season, at a pretty high approximate figure of $39.5m. This will leave them with around $25m to spend on 12-14 more players. Now comes the interesting part. Ryan Callahan, Derick Brassard, Mats Zucarello, Chris Kreider, Brian Boyle, Taylor Pyatt, Benoit Pouliot, Darroll Powe, Aaron Asham, Dominic Moore, Dan Girardi, Michael Del Zotto, Justin Falk, John Moore & Anton Stralman will all become free agents in July. Kreider, Zuccarello, Brassard, Falk, John Moore, and Del Zotto as RFAs that, in Kreider and Del Zotto, might fancy themselves a small pay rise. The rest will be free to negotiate with whomever they wish.

My guess is that Callahan, Kreider, Stralman and Zuccarello will most likely be Rangers next season. The problem starts with players like Girardi and Del Zotto, already on average size salaries for the quality of hockey they give. Anyone would be stupid not to think Girardi could be in for a nice pay day in July. Perhaps in the $5-6m per year range, possibly higher. At 29, there'll be plenty of clubs lined up for his services if the Rangers don't pay up.

The obvious thing that'll help take a load off the Rangers cap problem, is to buyout Brad Richards. That alone will open up an extra $6.66m on the cap.

So what do the Rangers do?

They probably buyout Richards and give themselves about $32m to spend on 14 players. If they plan to keep Callahan, Kreider, Girardi, Stralman and Del Zotto then I'd imagine at least half of that sum goes to those five players. Leaving the Rangers with six attackers, five defenders, and the Lundqvist/Talbot tandem. Then they can hope players like Boyle, Brassard, Pyatt and Moore take similar deals to their current ones. Adding small rises to current salary would mean all pending FAs mentioned in this paragraph could cost a combined total of $26-31m. Leaving $3-8m spare for 3-5 players.

What about trades? Only players I see being traded are Staal and Dorsett. Richards cap hit is huge, not many teams might want to take that punt. Girardi isn't the sort of player a team like the Rangers would trade to a fellow playoff contender. McDonagh just signed a big deal and Del Zotto would only fetch back a similar cap hit. But would be a rental. I can't see teams taking him on as a rental. On offense, they have Stepan, Nash and Hagelin signed beyond the current season. Three guys they must, and probably will keep.

Staal is currently a cap hit of just under $4m. Dorsett is a tidy $1.6m. Both become UFAs in 2015. If any player is traded away it'll be one, or both, of those two. If they manage to trade away Richards for a similar player with two thirds or even half the cap hit, give Glen Sather the key to the city.

Is it worth the Rangers trying to keep the majority of the current team together, minus Richards? Or should they go into the summer seeing who they can bring to NYC? Will Girardi remain a Ranger? Might Callahan take a hometown discount? Is there any scenario Richards is still around next season?

Definitely an intriguing July awaits for the Rangers and their fans.

Stars - best of Saturday 30th November

Stars is our daily look at the previous night's action in the NHL and who stood out amongst the rest.


FIRST STAR

 

Chris Kreider - NEW YORK RANGERS vs Vancouver Canucks

Kreider scored his first career NHL hat trick against the team now coached by his favourite man the man who dropped him to the AHL for much of last season, John Tortorella. As John was run out of town by the Rangers for the 2nd time in 2013.




SECOND STAR

 

Max Pacioretty - MONTREAL CANADIENS vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Max continued his recent goal scoring form picking up two more goals and an assist. His first was from an fantastic breakout pass from P.K. Subban. His 2nd was this awesome short handed effort.




THIRD STAR

 

Evgeni Malkin - PITTSBURGH PENGUINS vs Florida Panthers

"Geno" had a goal, the game winner, and three assists in the Penguins 5-1 rout of the Panthers.




Honourable Mentions

Penguins backup goalie, Jeff Zatkoff, had 40 saves in the Pens win over Florida..... Semyon Varlamov had 37 saves in Colorado's 3-2 win against Minnesota.....

Subban had a nice goal.....



Tomas Plekanec also scored on a nice move.....



Alex Ovechkin scored, again.......




Look Away Moment of the Night

After all his brilliance recently, against Calgary, Ben Scrivens reminds us that he's just a man god damnit!!!

Stars - best of Friday 29th November

Stars is our daily look at the previous night's action in the NHL and who stood out amongst the rest.

FIRST STAR

 

Brent Burns - SAN JOSE SHARKS vs St Louis Blues

Burns picked up his first career NHL hat trick in the 6-3 win over the Blues. He also picked up an assist on Tomas Hertl's late empty netter.




SECOND STAR

 

Braden Holtby - WASHINGTON CAPITALS vs Montreal Canadiens

Holtby had a surprise start at the Verizon Center when Michal Neuvirth hurt himself pre-game. He saved 35 shots in the 3-2 shootout win.




THIRD STAR

Darren Helm - DETROIT RED WINGS vs New York Islanders

Darren scored the opening two goals in the 5-0 demolition of the New York Islanders. Ending the Wings losing streak against the Isles.



Honourable Mentions

Mikhail Grabovski had a goal, an assist and the shootout winner in the Caps-Habs game.......



Tomas Plekanec also had a goal and an assist but his miss in the shootout gave the winner point to the Caps......



The man mountain that is Zdeno Chara got himself a Gordie Howe hat trick. He fought with Brian Boyle, assisted on Brad Marchand's goal, and then scored the game winner in the Bruins 3-2 win against the New York Rangers......

 

Rick Nash also scored in that game. It was easy on the eye......

Stars - best of Wednesday 27th November

Stars is our daily look at the previous night's action in the NHL and who stood out amongst the rest.

First, Happy Thanksgiving to all Americans. Enjoy the day whilst the rest of the world go to work.

Back to a full program in the NHL last night with 13 games played, and for the joy of fans, after the last few days of dominant goaltending it was literally raining goals last night.

And it was an emotional night in Florida, as the Philadelphia Flyers visited the Tampa Bay Lightning with Bolts legend Vinny Lecavalier and another former Bolts favourite in Steve Downie on the team.

FIRST STAR

 

Evgeni Malkin - PITTSBURGH PENGUINS vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Another two goal, one assist performance here. Malkin's effort came as the Pens fought back from 4-1 and 5-3 down to beat the Leafs 6-5 in a shootout. His assist and 2nd goal were the Pens 4th and 5th goals. He also scored the game sealing goal in the shootout.



SECOND STAR

 

Victor Hedman - TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING vs Philadelphia Flyers

Hedman had a point on each of Tampa's first three goals, scorer of the 1st & 3rd, plus an assist on the 2nd.

Here's his first goal. Ray Emery and goalie's everywhere, watch with caution. This may cause harm to your health.



THIRD STAR

Patrick Kane - CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS vs Calgary Flames

Kane played the hero with the game winner on a clever backhand shot. He scored the first Blackhawks goal in what turned out to be a two goal night for him.




Honourable Mentions

Tomas Tatar did this.....



Sean Monahan continues to impress and had a nice goal on a wrist shot.......



Brendan Gallagher is now one goal short of hitting double digits for the 2nd consecutive season. This ripper on the PP, the number one PP on the road, was his 9th of the campaign....



Brad Richards scored a long range goal for the Rangers on Tim Thomas.....




MY PICKS

3-2 for me last night. Pittsburgh, St Louis and San Jose with the wins.


NOTE: Yesterday's "The Night Ahead" will be the last one for the foreseeable future. Unless somebody else would like to write it everyday.

Stars - best of Monday 25th November

Stars is our daily look at the previous night's action in the NHL and who stood out amongst the rest.

FIRST STAR

 

Martin St Louis - TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING vs New York Rangers

It was a big night for Marty. It was his 1000th game in the NHL and he celebrated the best way he knows. By scoring twice and assisting on another.

SECOND STAR

 

Ben Bishop - TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING vs New York Rangers

Bishop had a 37 save shutout on a night when the skaters in front of him put goals passed two Rangers goaltenders.


THIRD STAR

 

James Neal - PITTSBURGH PENGUINS vs Boston Bruins

Neal had a huge night in the Pens 4-3 OT defeat. He picked up two goals and as assist. His goals bought the Penguins back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game. His assist came with a couple of seconds left as he threw the puck to the front of the net and watched on as Kunitz moved it on to Crosby, who scored with 0.3 seconds left to send it to OT.

 

Honourable Mentions

Ryan Johansen had two goals (5th and 6th) in the Blue Jackets 6-0 win in Toronto...... Tim Thomas went 38/39 for a .974 SV%...... Loui Eriksson had a goal and two assists in the Bruins win, including a secondary assist on the game winner..... Andrew Shaw had two goals and an assist as the Blackhawks overcame Edmonton....... Corey Crawford had a .960 SV% in the game, stopping 24 shots from 25...... Ben Scrivens gave up two goals off of 39 shots faced for a .949 SV% and had this four save effort to help the team to victory.

Daniel Sedin received a high stick to the face in Vancouver's loss at home to LA. He responded by pulling out his tooth

 

 

 

MY PICKS

2-3 on the night with St Louis and LA winning.

The Night Ahead - Monday 25th November 2013

In "The Night Ahead" we take a look at a selection (well, five) of the upcoming games for the evening (early hours here in the UK) and add a preview and opinion on the match ups.
Back to a nice full plate of games tonight after a lazy Sunday. So without further ado.....

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS @ BOSTON BRUINS

The cream of the Eastern conference do battle at the Gaaaahden! This is a rematch of last seasons Conference final in which the B's swept the Pens away in four games, only giving up TWO goals in the process. This is the second meeting between the two since, the other a 3-2 home win for Pittsburgh.

The Penguins come into this game 5-5-0 in their last 10, including a 3 win streak that was halted on Saturday night in Montreal. The large majority of points being scored by Crosby, Malkin, Kunitz and Neal. The run also saw the emergence of Brian Gibbons who had a goal and an assist in the recent 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks.

Boston went 7-1-2 in their last 10, the regulation loss coming to the Jekyll and Hyde style Ottawa Senators. They needed a David Krejci OT winner to fend off Carolina on Saturday, and have relied on the great form of Reilly Smith, Carl Soderberg, Torey Krug, and Gregory Campbell in their last five outings.

This is going to be a heavy hitting, great watch for neutrals. I'm going with Pittsburgh on this one.

MINNESOTA WILD @ ST LOUIS BLUES

Despite the showdown above this is the big game NBCSN have plumped for tonight. Oh, and it's going to be just as epic!

A home win make St Louis the belle of the ball, the star on the tree, 1st overall in the NHL. Minnesota aim to tie Chicago as 2nd best in the league.

8-1-1 in their last 10, Minnesota's only regulation loss was a 6-2 humbling away to the Montreal Canadiens. Parise, Koivu and Pominville have been the offensive stars for the Wild with a steady helping of blue line attack from Ryan Suter. This team, bar that one ugly game, is on a roll right now and should be feared by all.

8-1-1 in their last 10, Minnesota, St Louis have found themselves with one of the leagues shiniest diamonds, polished from the rough. Alex Steen. Second in goals, third in points. Steen is slowly becoming a player that the opposition have to plan around, and with that new found attention he'll be jumping at the bit to ride this momentum so long as he has air in his lungs. But if the flame does start to flicker there's a great supporting cast in David Backes, T.J. Oshie, Alex Pietrangelo, plus 2nd year winger Vladimir Tarasenko to pick up the slack. Despite being routed by the Caps 4-1 recently, the Blues have beaten Colorado, Boston and crushed Dallas in their last game.

This game is the Western conference equivalent of the Pens @ Bruins.

I can't decide so will plump for home advantage.

NEW YORK RANGERS @ TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

The Rangers are on a two game win streak and are 6-4-0 in their last 10. The losses coming in no shame to Anaheim, Boston, LA and rivals New Jersey. Richards, Stepan, Kreider and Zuccarello have been on top form for the Blueshirts, and have been buoyed on by the return of Rick Nash who already has a goal in his three games back.

Tampa Bay have been without captain, and leading scorer Steven Stamkos for six games since he broke his leg on a backcheck in Boston. They sit level on points with Detroit and Toronto, 3rd in the division and 4th in the conference, despite going 0-3-1 in their last 4. only winning the first two games after Stamkos' injury. They beat Anaheim 5-1 with three points for Valtteri Filppula, who many said had to up his game to fill the void left. Their last 4 games were at Phoenix (6-3), at LA (5-2), at San Jose (5-1), and at Anaheim (1-0 OT).

I haven't mentioned the Rangers goaltending but that's the reason I'll take them. Whether it's Lundqvist or Talbot in nets.

WINNIPEG JETS @ NEW JERSEY DEVILS

This is a perfect game for the Devils to continue their attempt to crash the East conference playoff battle. Having gone 6-3-1 in the last 10. The losses coming to hot teams in, Minnesota, LA, San Jose and Toronto in a shootout. The six wins include a 4-1 rout over the Penguins, plus two OT wins in LA and Anaheim. Jaromir Jagr has been rolling back the years and finds himself as the teams top scorer. Followed by Elias, Zidlicky, Zubrus, Henrique and Ryder.

Winnipeg have gone 5-3-2 recently, but after their last three wins came in a bunch and were in shootouts they have lost four in a row. Two regulation, two shootouts.

New Jersey sit 4th in the Metropolitan and are outside the playoffs by a point. Winnipeg would be in that position but only behind the Rangers on the fact they've played more games. But being in the West they find themselves 3rd bottom of the conference. Little, Ladd, Wheeler, Kane and Byfuglien lead the Jets in scoring, Little and Wheeler putting down some doubters after the big contracts they signed in the offseason.

I've gotta go Devils on this. Whose fans, despite management changing the goal song, found a new way to chant "You suck!"

LOS ANGELES KIGNS @ VANCOUVER CANUCKS

LA come into tonight 6-1-3 over the previous ten outings, having lost their last two at home in OT to New Jersey and Colorado. Vancouver on the over hand are a little less steady in their form, going 3-4-3 in the last 10, six losses in their last seven games at the hands of LA, Anaheim, San Jose, Dallas, Florida and Chicago.

I've written a fair amount about these teams in the last few days. So won't bore you with re-written information. But, will send you in the direction of these posts - The Night Ahead - Friday 22nd, Stars of Friday 22nd & The Night Ahead - Saturday 23rd.

LA are my pick.


Tonight's picks: Pittsburgh, St Louis, New York Rangers, New Jersey, LA.