Man whatta great deal. Sather never over pays our RFA or players coming up through our system. He loves paying other teams players too much though!

I am extremely critical of the Clowe signing, the dollars and the length.

I saw him with my own eyes get two concussions within a 16 day span playing for the Rangers. Extremely questionable signing.
- jimbro83

I really believe his (Lou's) biggest mistake was not forfeiting last year's 1st rounder. Their is a risk this year's turns into a lottery pick and that's a tough one to lose for a team that might find itself in the midst of a rebuild before too long.

I agree on Clowe. When I heard the term especially all I could do was shake my head. Liked the player but those concussions scare me. That and the fact he's already slow and is only going to get slower as he ages was all the reason I needed to say no thank you to the kind of term he got from Jersey.

I really believe his (Lou's) biggest mistake was not forfeiting last year's 1st rounder. Their is a risk this year's turns into a lottery pick and that's a tough one to lose for a team that might find itself in the midst of a rebuild before too long.

I agree on Clowe. When I heard the term especially all I could do was shake my head. Liked the player but those concussions scare me. That and the fact he's already slow and is only going to get slower as he ages was all the reason I needed to say no thank you to the kind of term he got from Jersey.
- gkmkiller

if the Rangers had signed him for that money after those concussions, I think we all would have been pissed

Think it's easier to view the cap hit as such, to avoid having a carry over cap hit until next year by staying under that amount in this one.
- airjan23

True but as long as Cally and Hags are set to miss opening of season being able to squeeze a couple of kids up here and under the cap for a couple of weeks until they are ready is important. If we have to carry over a small portion into next year then so be it. Rangers will have lots of room under the cap next year and a bunch of players to sign.

if the Rangers had signed him for that money after those concussions, I think we all would have been pissed
- jimbro83

Agree. And I was one of the guys who advocated most for his return. But I was hoping a sub-$4MM AAV and a deal no longer than three years. And that was stretching it even for me.

The rangers have a pretty big log jam of forwards fighting for spots. Might not be so fun and friendly when training camp starts

I really believe his (Lou's) biggest mistake was not forfeiting last year's 1st rounder. Their is a risk this year's turns into a lottery pick and that's a tough one to lose for a team that might find itself in the midst of a rebuild before too long.

I agree on Clowe. When I heard the term especially all I could do was shake my head. Liked the player but those concussions scare me. That and the fact he's already slow and is only going to get slower as he ages was all the reason I needed to say no thank you to the kind of term he got from Jersey.
- gkmkiller

It looks really obvious now, but at the time I believe he made the decision because he was under the impression that Parise would return after they just fell short of the cup, and he was caught off guard by Kovalchuk's decision. I think he was expecting to have both of those pieces and be a strong contender going into this season when he made the decision at the draft. But... things happen. Circumstances change fast.

edit: please no one reply "herp, derp, no one wants to play for you n00bs!" Have no intention of bickering. Just making conversation.

The rangers have a pretty big log jam of forwards fighting for spots. Might not be so fun and friendly when training camp starts
- TPC

That's a good thing.

It looks really obvious now, but at the time I believe he made the decision because he was under the impression that Parise would return after they just fell short of the cup, and he was caught off guard by Kovalchuk's decision. I think he was expecting to have both of those pieces and be a strong contender going into this season when he made the decision at the draft. But... things happen. Circumstances change fast.
- TheJerseyDevil1

I have a feeling he had at least an idea that Kovy might bail. The structure of his contract was odd in that it wasn't front-loaded like every other front-loaded deal. His highest salary years didn't kick in until a few years in. Maybe he was just trying to put off the higher salaries in an effort to improve the short-term cash flow, I'm not sure.

I just think he should have taken the bird-in-the-hand approach. The only way to get a lower pick is to win the cup and only one team wins every year no matter how stacked you think your club is. It's easy to second guess now obviously but I still would have taken that approach.

I have a feeling he had at least an idea that Kovy might bail. The structure of his contract was odd in that it wasn't front-loaded like every other front-loaded deal. His highest salary years didn't kick in until a few years in. Maybe he was just trying to put off the higher salaries in an effort to improve the short-term cash flow, I'm not sure.

I just think he should have taken the bird-in-the-hand approach. The only way to get a lower pick is to win the cup and only one team wins every year no matter how stacked you think your club is. It's easy to second guess now obviously but I still would have taken that approach.
- gkmkiller

I would have as well. But I know that Lou is smarter than me, he's got a resume that I can't argue with. If something seems blatantly obvious to a college kid like me, it can't be that simple that Lou didn't consider it. I think he must've been misled by someone at some point in his decision making process.

So by my calculations, with Asham Powe Johnson starting in the AHL, and with Kreider and Moore's actual cap hits factored, there is $5.11M available right now. If we can get Stepan at $4.2M AAV, that leaves enough space for Miller to start with the club and no other roster moves needed.

Man whatta great deal. Sather never over pays our RFA or players coming up through our system. He loves paying other teams players too much though!
- evitageN

Agreed. Not the biggest Zuc fan but a 1 yr cheap deal, the guy will get a lot of minutes with the Cally/Hags injuries likely lingering for the first few weeks/month or so. And he is cash $$$ in shootouts.

So by my calculations, with Asham Powe Johnson starting in the AHL, and with Kreider and Moore's actual cap hits factored, there is $5.11M available right now. If we can get Stepan at $4.2M AAV, that leaves enough space for Miller to start with the club and no other roster moves needed.
- xcheckmajor

No... it doesnt.
_____________________________

FORWARDS
Mats Zuccarello ($1.150m) / Derek Stepan ($4.200m) / Rick Nash ($7.800m)
Chris Kreider ($1.325m) / Brad Richards ($6.667m) / J.T. Miller ($1.244m)
Benoit Pouliot ($1.300m) / Derick Brassard ($3.200m) / Derek Dorsett ($1.633m)
Taylor Pyatt ($1.550m) / Dominic Moore ($1.000m) / Brian Boyle ($1.700m)
Ryan Callahan ($4.275m) / Carl Hagelin ($2.250m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Ryan McDonagh ($4.700m) / Marc Staal ($3.975m)
Dan Girardi ($3.325m) / Michael Del Zotto ($2.550m)
Anton Stralman ($1.700m) / Justin Falk ($0.975m)
John Moore ($0.965m) /
GOALTENDERS
Henrik Lundqvist ($6.875m)
Martin Biron ($1.300m)
RETAINED SALARY TRANSACTIONS (0.242% of upper limit)
Arron Asham ($0.070m—7.0%) Darroll Powe ($0.085m—8.0%)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $65,814,500; BONUSES: $1,287,500
CAP SPACE (20-man roster):- $227,000

__________________________

They would need to send down Falk and go with 0 healthy scratches to make it work.

No... it doesnt.
_____________________________

FORWARDS
Mats Zuccarello ($1.150m) / Derek Stepan ($4.200m) / Rick Nash ($7.800m)
Chris Kreider ($1.325m) / Brad Richards ($6.667m) / J.T. Miller ($1.244m)
Benoit Pouliot ($1.300m) / Derick Brassard ($3.200m) / Derek Dorsett ($1.633m)
Taylor Pyatt ($1.550m) / Dominic Moore ($1.000m) / Brian Boyle ($1.700m)
Ryan Callahan ($4.275m) / Carl Hagelin ($2.250m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Ryan McDonagh ($4.700m) / Marc Staal ($3.975m)
Dan Girardi ($3.325m) / Michael Del Zotto ($2.550m)
Anton Stralman ($1.700m) / Justin Falk ($0.975m)
John Moore ($0.965m) /
GOALTENDERS
Henrik Lundqvist ($6.875m)
Martin Biron ($1.300m)
RETAINED SALARY TRANSACTIONS (0.242% of upper limit)
Arron Asham ($0.070m—7.0%) Darroll Powe ($0.085m—8.0%)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $65,814,500; BONUSES: $1,287,500
CAP SPACE (20-man roster):- $227,000

__________________________

They would need to send down Falk and go with 0 healthy scratches to make it work.
- aecliptic

I'm guessing u missed the whole part of the conversation about how performance bonuses are mistakenly added into our ELC players? Kreiders cap hit is actually $900K, John Moore is $810K. Millers cap hit is only $925K. Everything else is performance bonus and doesn't factor til the end of the season.

No... it doesnt.
_____________________________

FORWARDS
Mats Zuccarello ($1.150m) / Derek Stepan ($4.200m) / Rick Nash ($7.800m)
Chris Kreider ($900K) / Brad Richards ($6.667m) / J.T. Miller ($925k)
Benoit Pouliot ($1.300m) / Derick Brassard ($3.200m) / Derek Dorsett ($1.633m)
Taylor Pyatt ($1.550m) / Dominic Moore ($1.000m) / Brian Boyle ($1.700m)
Ryan Callahan ($4.275m) / Carl Hagelin ($2.250m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Ryan McDonagh ($4.700m) / Marc Staal ($3.975m)
Dan Girardi ($3.325m) / Michael Del Zotto ($2.550m)
Anton Stralman ($1.700m) / Justin Falk ($0.975m)
John Moore ($810K) /
GOALTENDERS
Henrik Lundqvist ($6.875m)
Martin Biron ($1.300m)

- aecliptic

That's $64.166M including Asham and Powes penalty hits for playing in Hartford. This keeps Faulk on the roster.

I'm guessing u missed the whole part of the conversation about how performance bonuses are mistakenly added into our ELC players? Kreiders cap hit is actually $900K, John Moore is $810K. Millers cap hit is only $925K. Everything else is performance bonus and doesn't factor til the end of the season.
- xcheckmajor

Capgeek knows this, the salaries are done properly.

Asham and Powe getting sent down are displayed by their retained salaries since only 925k is taken off the books. Johnson is completely removed.

But youre not going to sit and count that the salaries are correct, help yourself though if you feel like correcting capgeek, but Ill take their word for it.

That's $64.166M including Asham and Powes penalty hits for playing in Hartford. This keeps Faulk on the roster.
- xcheckmajor

Just cause it SAYS their full salary (with performance bonuses) doesnt mean thats whats being calculated by capgeek. If you do it yourself, youll see that.

I got nothing against you, but sometimes... instead of just running your mouth, either do the math yourself, or use capgeek (its there for a reason).

Just cause it SAYS their full salary (with performance bonuses) doesnt mean thats whats being calculated by capgeek. If you do it yourself, youll see that.

I got nothing against you, but sometimes... instead of just running your mouth, either do the math yourself, or use capgeek (its there for a reason).
- aecliptic

I just DID add it up for you. The total is 64.166M. That's with Miller added in and Stepan at 4.2.

The only difference I can see is with AAV and bonuses somehow calculated together somehow but according to how Capgeek defines the way bonuses get factored, it's very misleading. For example it shows Kreiders actually salary as $900K with $637,500 in performance bonuses. So how does that equal a $1.325M cap hit? Doesn't it mean his actual cap hit is $900K with the bonuses hitting at the end of the season?

nice signing now sign steps and get rid of paytt, powe, asham and we're set,
i hope AV puts kreider stepan and kristo on a line in preseason, would be fun

I just DID add it up for you. The total is 64.166M. That's with Miller added in and Stepan at 4.2.

The only difference I can see is with AAV and bonuses somehow calculated together somehow but according to how Capgeek defines the way bonuses get factored, it's very misleading. For example it shows Kreiders actually salary as $900K with $637,500 in performance bonuses. So how does that equal a $1.325M cap hit? Doesn't it mean his actual cap hit is $900K with the bonuses hitting at the end of the season?
- xcheckmajor

Actually, if you take your list, and pull out a calculator, the total comes to 64.76m

With the Asham and Powe adds up to 64.915.

Mats Zuccarello Didn’t Want Arbitration/Lessened His Demands

Mats ZuccarelloIn an interview with TV2 in Norway, Mats Zuccarello said that he and his agents decided it was better to back off on some of the things they were looking for in a new contract as a way to prevent the two sides from going to arbitration.

Zuccarello said that he is happy to stay with the Rangers and is glad he gets an opportunity to show he is worth a long-term deal.

He said that at the start of negotiations he was looking for a longer-term deal but is fine with a one-year deal.

Zuccarello said that he doesn’t know much about Alain Vigneault but said that the coach doesn’t really matter as it’s up to each player to perform and prove themselves

Hearing some talk that Seattle and Quebec City may get expansion teams in time for 2014-15 season.

Only reason I bring this up is there is always an expansion draft in these cases, we will only be allowed to protect a certain number of players. It's ultimately why we couldn't keep both Beezer and Richter. Maybe it's a good thing we only have one legit NHL goalie.

Hearing some talk that Seattle and Quebec City may get expansion teams in time for 2014-15 season.

Only reason I bring this up is there is always an expansion draft in these cases, we will only be allowed to protect a certain number of players. It's ultimately why we couldn't keep both Beezer and Richter. Maybe it's a good thing we only have one legit NHL goalie.
- jimbro83

Just what the NHL needs, expansion. Well, it's more $$$ for Buttman's pocket.

Hearing some talk that Seattle and Quebec City may get expansion teams in time for 2014-15 season.

Only reason I bring this up is there is always an expansion draft in these cases, we will only be allowed to protect a certain number of players. It's ultimately why we couldn't keep both Beezer and Richter. Maybe it's a good thing we only have one legit NHL goalie.
- jimbro83

Can't they take Phoenix and Florida? One out of the East and one out of the West, no reallignment needed.

Can't they take Phoenix and Florida? One out of the East and one out of the West, no reallignment needed.
- TheJerseyDevil1

each team pays 275 million dollars to join the NHL and that goes to the owner's pockets.

The owners get no money if teams relocate.