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Full #NYR Press Release: https://t.co/QMKzXvMU12 https://t.co/i9bhycaXCY
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) July 31, 2018
Under my roster (2+7+12), Rangers have approximately $5.569M of cap space. I have Chytil, Andersson, McLeod, Smith, DeAngelo, Claesson in NY; Beleskey, Hajek, Lindgren, Kampfer, Lettieri in AHL. If Smith is waived in favor of kid, NYR would gain between $100-400,000 of space.
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) July 31, 2018
With Spooner signed at 2 yrs 4M, #NYR have all of their Restricted Free Agents under contract for the upcoming season.
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 31, 2018
The #NYR now find themselves with roughly $5.7M in cap space. That amount is tentatively based on a roster of 22 players (12F/8D/2G)https://t.co/QZwIPWiV0y pic.twitter.com/toCd4fQK1Y
Based on the #Rangers current roster as we have it displayed, the club only has one forward (Mika Zibanejad) under contract past the 2019-20 season.
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 31, 2018
That being the case, New York has a mere $5,350,000 committed at the forward position for 2020-21.https://t.co/QZwIPWiV0y pic.twitter.com/SdtundCnWC
Now that Spooner and all of the #NYR free agents are signed, here's a look at their contract situation through 2023-24 pic.twitter.com/uiBeqR0YGH
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) July 31, 2018
Spooner is the one I expect to be dealt. Acquired from Boston in the Rick Nash deal, Spooner notched four goals and 12 assists in 20 games, though most of that production came early in his Rangers' tenure. Spooner earned $2.825 million on a one-year deal, his third contract with Boston. Regardless of the length of deal he signs Spooner will become a UFA, so if he inks another one-year deal, he earns UFA status after this season.
One knock on Spooner is that he isn't physical enough and won't go into the dirty areas. I didn't notice that in New York and felt that he, Miller and Hayes would have been a nice trio and we saw signs of that in the one game they played together against Detroit following his acquisition earlier that Sunday on Jean Ratelle night. Spooner can be center and wing, though he looks to be better suited to playing outside rather than the pivot.
With New York in rebuilding mode, Spooner probably will get dealt either before the season or during the year at the trade deadline for a future asset, especially if he is on a one-year deal. A player who can play C and W and can score 40-45 points has solid value in the league. Cane's model predicts a one-year deal at $2,605,014, in essence 200K less than before. My prediction is Spooner inks a one-year deal between $3.4 and $3.8 million.
My hope is that all these deals get done before arbitration and no one makes it to a hearing. Vesey will be first up, but not for two more weeks. If no action until then on any of the four, the slow crawl of an off-season will be even more snail-like.