The Rangers are expected to buy out Henrik Lundqvist
TSN: The New York Rangers have made the difficult decision and are expected to be buying out the final year of Henrik Lundqvist’s contract according to Pierre LeBrun.
” I believe the Rangers, perhaps as early as Wednesday, will announce that they have moved forward with the buyout of the final year of Lundqvist’s contract. And this decision would not come easy to the Rangers. Given everything Lundqvist has provided the Rangers as an organization, this was a tough decision but a decision that has to be made moving forward.”
Vince Mercogliano: “It seems the decision to part ways was fairly mutual. Lundqvist didn’t want to stay as a backup and #NYR likes the idea of keeping Georgiev with Igor. A trade was always unlikely, but buyout allows Hank to choose his next destination. #NYR wanted to allow him that opportunity.”
Frank Seravalli: “With #NYR expected to buyout Henrik Lundqvist tomorrow, as reported by @DarrenDreger, Rangers will now have nearly $13 million in dead cap space next season.
Shattenkirk buyout $6.08 million
Lundqvist buyout $5.5 million
Girardi buyout $1.11 million
Spooner buyout $300k”
David Pagnotta: “With the Rangers set to buyout Lundqvist on Wed, they’ll soon have $23.091M in salary cap space. FWIW, I’m told Lundqvist & NYR discussed this route at some point after their season ended, so he was prepared. But now reality sinks in. Would he take a 1-2yr deal to chase a Cup?”
Puck Pedia: Cap numbers for Lundqvist for the next two years.
2020-21: $5.5M ($3M savings)
2021-22: $1.5M ($1.5M new cap hit)
Some free agents are going to get squeezed
Rory Boylen of Sportsnet: The flat salary at $81.5 million is going to leave a bunch of teams in a tight cap situation and will be faced with some tough decisions.
“I think that teams are going to have to look at that a little bit more critically than they have in the past and maybe cut ties with 22-, 23-year-old players, rather than re-sign them at the number they’re at and allow those players to become free agents,” Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston said recently on Hockey Central. “There’s going to be a trickle-down effect of a flat cap.
I mean, I know Alex Pietrangelo‘s negotiations aren’t going well in St. Louis, but I’m reasonably confident he’s going to be a well-paid player next season. He’s going to get his deal…but there are going to be players who become free agents under these conditions and they’re going to get squeezed. They’re either going to have to take less term or less money than they would have in a normal time.”
There could be some surprise names not qualified by October 7th.