|
Vinny a Flyer, Do Rangers Look Worse 4 Keeping Richards? Kristo/Thomas Deal |
|
|
|
|
|
The Flyers, after buying out Daniel Briere and Ilya Bryzgalov, have poured those savings into signing Vincent Lecavalier to a five-year, $23.5 deal with a reported no-moment clause. When Lecavalier was bought out by Tampa, initial speculation was that the Rangers would be one of the team's interested. That possibility went out the window when the Rangers decided to not buy out and keep Brad Richards.
So riddle me this Batman, and thanks to xcheckmajor whose comments were basically what I was thinking. I understand not expecting to get Lecavalier driving why you might not buy out Richards, though one could argue that a Ribeiro could have maybe filled that role cheaper. Yet, you are keeping a center who showed major slippage last year, who is making $6.67 million a year for the next seven years and whose retention has hamstrung you from doing much in free agency. Included in that latter part is having to give up Clowe, who I did not want at the salary he is expected to demand, but who is just an example of someone you can't sign. But Philadelphia, and say what you want about overpayment and use of an NMC, signs Vinny, who: will make just under $2 mil a year less the first five years of Richards' remaining seven years on his deal, is bigger that Richards and might be a better fit and who could be bought next year if need be, so would be one year commitment with just cash spent the true downside with potential smaller cap as opposed to a major cap-recapture charge in the future. Can someone explian to me Sather's logic for keeping Richards?
On the positive note, and boy do I need one, I love the Danny Kristo for Christian Thomas deal. As pointed out, Kristo had success with Stepan and Kreider and the WJC in 2010. Thomas seemed to regress a little this year while Kristo, a former Hobey Baker Award finalist, has worked out his maturity issues and played well for North Dakota in 2012-13, scoring 26 goals and 52 points in 40 games.
As jimbo said, if Thomas made the roster this year he was a 970K cap hit while Kristo would be a 1.3 million cap hit, so given the cap constraints the Rangers are in, they must like him a lot. In addition, he is a right-handed shot, which we know AV seems to like, who has good hockey IQ and some speed, which also fits in well to the Rangers style of play. I could see him getting a shot on the third line in camp and really like the upside.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»