Regarding the Rangers, who have summer work in front of them with shrinking cap space in which to do it:
1. Kevin Shattenkirk did leave more than $23 million on the table in order to fulfill a lifelong dream, but Double Deuce’s $6.65 million annual cap charge hardly represents a discount in ranking as the 13th-highest among NHL defensemen.
In order for this transaction to be as successful on the ice as it has been characterized this week, it is critical that coach Alain Vigneault view and use Shattenkirk as a player whose value is commensurate with the price tag.
This has been pointed out many times before, but it is worth repeating. After the Rangers acquired Keith Yandle at the 2015 trade deadline at the cost of a first-rounder, a second-rounder and primetime prospect Anthony Duclair, Vigneault used No. 93 primarily on the third pair and second power play. And when the club acquired Eric Staal for a pair of second-rounders at the following year’s deadline, Vigneault moved the center to left wing for most of his short tenure on Broadway.
There is no law mandating that Shattenkirk play on Ryan McDonagh’s right side on the first pair, but anything else would be overthinking it. The Blueshirts have a ready-made second pair consisting of Brady Skjei and Brendan Smith. Injury aside, there is no reason to break it up. If McDonagh and Shattenkirk require some time to mesh, it is incumbent upon Vigneault to invest as much time as necessary in order to ensure that outcome.
2. Vigneault essentially never used Yandle (0:04 per) to kill penalties. Last year, he did not use Skjei (0:17 per) in shorthanded situations. Shattenkirk saw little time killing last year for St. Louis (0:22) and less for Washington (0:06), but he had been a staple on the Blues’ PK unit the previous five seasons.
Obviously nothing has been determined, and it will be interesting to gauge incoming assistant coach Lindy Ruff’s impact on personnel decisions and usage. But it would seem crazy for the Rangers not to use two of their top four defensemen to kill penalties this season.
3. Shattenkirk’s addition has created both depth and a logjam on the blue line, with Marc Staal, Nick Holden, Anthony DeAngelo, Alexei Bereglazov and Neal Pionk vying for spots on the third pair, if not on the roster.
Holden, who has one year remaining on his contract at a most reasonable $1.65M cap hit, is a likely candidate to be dangled as general manager Jeff Gorton seeks a top-six center.
4. On Saturday, Gorton framed J.T. Miller’s shift from the wing back to his original center position as a matter of when, not if.
It is fair to wonder whether Vigneault shares that view of the 24-year-old who was arguably the club’s best forward the first five months of the season before hitting the skids and finishing the playoffs on the fourth line.
5. The Rangers’ signing of Jesper Fast to a three-year deal worth $1.85M per leaves the club with approximately $8.4M of cap space pending the signing of Mika Zibanejad, who filed for salary arbitration and is likely to command between $4.5-and-$5.5M per depending upon the length of his deal.
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That number assumes Kevin Klein’s retirement from the NHL. But if the 32-year-old defenseman, who has yet not notified management of his plans, does not retire, that would have a dramatic impact on the club in reducing the club’s available space by $2.9M, to around $5.5M.
In addition to Zibanejad, the Blueshirts would still have another slot at center to fill, plus another one on the wing for at least the start of the season while Fast is on IR rehabbing from offseason hip surgery.
Fast did file for salary arbitration before signing his contract, so the Rangers will have another buyout window of 48 hours available to them at a yet-to-be-determined date.
A buyout of Staal would create more than $3.55M of space for this season but would come at an enormous cost, as well. The Rangers would be charged with approximately $2.133M of dead space each of the next two seasons, $3.133M in 2019-20 and $3.933M in conjunction with a Staal buyout.
Combined with dead space generated by Dan Girardi’s previous buyout, a Staal buyout would obligate the Blueshirts to carry a combined $4.74M of dead space this year, $5.74M of dead space in 2018-19, $6.74M of dead space in 2019-20 and $5.04M in 2020-21.