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Rangers and the 2013-14 Cap, e.g. the MDZ/Redden Questions

January 8, 2013, 11:53 AM ET [284 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Hat tip to Downeaster for some of this information. I will get more into the 2013-14 cap in a subsequent article, but wanted to focus on this year’s cap and current roster given the news that Wade Redden’s contract cannot be buried in the minors with the Rangers getting cap relief.

Everyone first thought that that the two buyouts afforded as part of the soon to be ratified CBA could only take place before the 2013-14 season. As more information filtered out in the last 24 hours, Pierre LeBrun and others reported the following: Teams will be allowed up to two buyouts over the next two summers -- 2013 and 2014 -- either one in each summer or two in one summer and none in the other. The interesting detail, and one that came up a lot in questions when the deal info first came out that gets answered here is that any player bought out under these circumstances CANNOT be re-acquired by that same team during the upcoming season, not by waivers, not by trade and not by free-agent signing. In terms of who the Rangers could waive, Redden is obviously one with wide-ranging speculation on who the second one will be, as names such as Gaborik, Nash, Richards have been mentioned as speculative options. That conversation is one I will get into more down the road and the ability to do one in 2013 and one in 2014 adds a layer of intrigue to it.

One new piece of information that was reported by LeBrun and others yesterday and has even farther reaching implications that the above is the ability to retain salary in a trade. LeBrun writes: Here are the main parameters of the rule: A club cannot absorb more than 50 percent of the players’ annual cap hit/salary in any trade. Any NHL club can only have up to three contracts on their payroll in which the contract was traded away under the retaining salary proviso. Also, only up to 15 percent of your upper limit cap amount can be used up by the money you have retained in trades. For example, let’s say the Maple Leafs want to trade little-used blueliner Mike Komisarek and his $4.5-million cap hit ($3.5 million salary this year) to the New York Islanders (hypothetically). The Leafs could retain half the cap hit -- $2.25 million -- and half the salary -- $1.75 million -- in order to facilitate the deal. The Islanders would pay him the other half. As seen in baseball deals the past several years, the more salary the acquiring team takes on, the better the prospect received. In this case, the more salary cap assumed by acquiring team, the better prospect that will have to be dealt. So to move half of Redden’s salary, would it take a B or A level prospect? If an A level prospect, would you do it to take a shot at winning the Cup this year or next?

Think about this in the context of Redden. If the Rangers needed to clear room to sign MDZ or make a deal for someone else, they could trade Redden to a team willing to take his salary provided the Blueshirts sweeten the pot. So, instead of waiting until after this season and being forced to carry an additional $6.5 million on the books, maybe New York deals him, agreeing to take half the cap ($3.25 million) and actually salary hit ($2.5 million), thereby freeing up room to sign MDZ long-term or trade for an asset at the April deadline.

Here are the Rangers’ cap figures for the year, with and without Redden:

Forwards Pos 2012-13
Rick Nash LW 7,800,000
Marian Gaborik RW 7,500,000
Brad Richards C 6,666,667
Ryan Callahan RW 4,275,000
Brian Boyle C 1,700,000
Taylor Pyatt LW 1,550,000
Mike Rupp C 1,500,000
Chris Krieder C 1,325,000
Arron Asham RW 1,000,000
Derek Stepan C 875,000
Carl Hagelin LW 875,000
Jeff Halpern C 700,000

Defense Pos 2012-13
Marc Staal D 3,975,000
Dan Girardi D 3,325,000
Anton Stralman D 1,700,000
Ryan McDonagh D 1,300,000
Michael Sauer D 1,250,000
Stu Bickel D 750,000
Steve Eminger D 750,000
Michael Del Zotto D RFA

Goalies Pos 2012-13
Henrik Lundqvist G 6,875,000
Martin Biron G 1,300,000

Buyout Pos 2012-13
Chris Drury C 1,666,667

Actual Payroll 62,204,167
Salary Cap Payroll 58,658,334
Cap Space 11,541,666

Wade Redden D 6,500,000
Salary Cap Payroll 65,158,334
Cap Space 5,041,666

Based on just adding in Redden, it leaves $5 mil in cap room for MDZ to be re-signed this year. However, when you factor in placing Sauer on LTIR, that number rises to nearly $6.3 million. I expect the Rangers to invite Kyle Jean and Marek Hrivik (injury permitting to camp), which is either one makes it as a 13th forward, the cap hit is minimal and leaves $5.3 million available. The team will need to leave room for in-season moves, which now gets us to how much MDZ could get and for which I am including some of Downeaster’s analysis.

DelZotto's cap hit was 1.0875 million his first three seasons as a Ranger with a base salary of .875 million and a maximum bonus of .2125 million in each of the three years minus some time he spent in Hartford for reasons known to us all.

With Staal and Girardi at 3.975 and 3.325 I don't think you could move him above Girardi.

Downeaster projects that DelZotto would stand to make 1.8, 2.3 and 2.8 million for a cap hit of 2.3 million and total of 6.9 million over 3 years. In addition, as Downeaster pointed out, the Rangers will also need to keep in mind the raise that will be due McDonagh and how that will impact negotiations with MDZ and the overall cap hit/impact to the team. By giving MDZ this deal, he will make 3 times in his next three years what he made his first three years. Yes, he is an up and coming defenseman and his next contract before he hits free agency will reward him much more if he continues to grow as a player and person.

I agree to a certain extent with what Downeaster wrote, but expect the raise that MDZ seeks and gets to be higher than 1.8 in year one. I expect something closer to between what he projects in Year 2 and 3 and expect him to be closer to $2.75 million even though he reportedly was seeking a multi-year deal worth more than $3 mil, though that may have changed a bit given the modifications to the CBA and lack of true leverage as several have pointed out. Katie Strang added that MDZ did not sign his qualifying offer and has no arb rights, so he is in essence at the mercy of the Rangers as it’s unlikely any team will sign him to an offer sheet. That said, getting something done that benefits both sides without ruffling any feathers would be best option. In that regard, it’s possible the Rangers sign him just to a one year deal and then negotiate a long-term deal later in the season where they will have a better idea as to all the permutations associated with the new CBA.
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