Buyout and trade candidates for the New York Rangers
Larry Brooks of the NY Post: The New York Rangers are projected to be over the salary cap and still have restricted free agents Anthony DeAngelo and Brendan Lemieux left to sign.
Buying out defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk “should be an open-and-shut case.” A buyout would save them $5.17 million this season.
Sure they will incur some dead cap space down the road, but it seems like better business than trading one of your better players – Chris Kreider – to keep a player who may not dress every night.
Aside from the speculation, there is no evidence that the Rangers are shopping Kreider. The Rangers and Kreider’s camp haven’t talked about what it may take to get a long-term deal done. It seems the sides will enter the season with Kreider not being extended.
The Rangers could also buy out Brendan Smith and gain an extra $2.3 million in cap space this season. Smith may hold more value to the Rangers Shattenkirk.
The Rangers may not even be able to trade Vladislav Namestnikov even if they pick up half his salary.
It will be a surprise if Shattenkirk isn’t bought out by the 5:01 deadline on Wednesday.
As @NYP_Brooksie suggests #NYR using second buyout period on Shattenkirk, Buyout Cap Hit per year would be:
-19-20: $1.483M Hit / $5.167M Savings
-20-21: $6.083M Hit / $567K Savings
-21-22: $1.43M Hit
-22-23: $1.43M Hithttps://t.co/6tf2jePdgo pic.twitter.com/y8erjDt9hG— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) July 27, 2019
Rick Carpiniello of The Athletic: Buying out Kevin Shattenkirk or Brendan Smith seems more likely than Marc Staal or any others. Shattenkirk or Smith would then be on the books for four more years.
Buying out Vladislav Namestnikov would carry a $1.33 million salary cap hit for the next two seasons, but trading the 26-year old even if they have to retain salary seems more likely.
If the Rangers were to trade Chris Kreider it wouldn’t just be about clearing salary cap space – it would need to be a worthwhile package.
The Rangers are likely to be interested in giving Kreider a seven-year extension in the $7 million range. They could consider moving Kreider at the trade deadline.