Blog Archives
McDonagh and Yandle: A match made in hockey heaven
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers have not had a really good offensive, puck moving defenseman in over a decade. Now that they do have one in Keith Yandle, it’s time for Vigneault to utilize him in a top-pair role. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Ever since making his NHL debut with the Rangers back in the 2010-11 season, McDonagh has spent the majority of his career, especially in recent seasons, paired alongside Dan Girardi, the veteran defenseman that has played his entire career in New York.
For the most part, the pairing has been very successful, regularly playing 20+ minutes a night, facing the best of the best in the NHL, and limiting the offensive capabilities of the other players for the better part of the past four seasons.
But for the upcoming season, Alain Vigneault may want to consider breaking up that longtime defensive partnership, and instead having the captain play alongside Keith Yandle, who will be playing in his first full season with the Rangers. Read the rest of this entry
Quick Hits: My thoughts after the Derek Stepan signing
My thoughts on Derek Stepan’s new contract, Jeff Gorton, and the team’s future. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Bobby Bevilacqua
Yesterday, we saw Derek Stepan finally re-sign with the Rangers, opting to stay in New York for the next six years. The deal will pay him an average of $6.5 million until he turns 31, which means that he will be an integral part of the Rangers for years to come.
Of course, with every signing or update, I usually have some thoughts and opinions on things. This is a new “series” of articles I will be doing, usually shorter in length, where I’ll discuss my thoughts on the Rangers and what is going on around the league.
If you guys like this type of article, leave feedback in the comments section here, on Twitter (@The_RangerZone), or on The Ranger Zone Facebook page. Read the rest of this entry
Gorton’s salary cap management leaves much needed wiggle room
Bobby Bevilacqua
Jeff Gorton should be applauded for his handling of the Rangers’ RFAs this offseason, but he still has some big decisions ahead. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Jeff Gorton and the Rangers have been very busy this week, signing almost all of their restricted free agents to new deals, and leaving valuable cap space open for the future. Gorton signed or re-signed Dylan McIlrath (article HERE), Magnus Hellberg (article HERE), JT Miller and Jesper Fast (article HERE), and Oscar Lindberg and Emerson Etem (article HERE).
What’s even better is that all of the players signed below what was their expected value. Oscar Lindberg, Emerson Etem, Jesper Fast and JT Miller signed for a combined cap hit of just $3.325 million. Now that’s great asset management.
If all of the listed cap hits are right, the Rangers have about $6.925 million left in free space. But that number, believe it or not, is realistically a bit higher. Also assuming that Dylan McIlrath ($600k) doesn’t make the team, and that Jayson Megna ($600k) is an AHL depth player, which is very likely, you can bump the Rangers available cap space to around $8.125 million. That’s a lot more than anyone thought the Rangers would have at this point. Read the rest of this entry
Food for thought: Is it wise to spend so much money on defense?
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers have spent a ton of money to build a strong defense, as well as in net. But in this league, and after looking at recent Cup champions, is it worth it? Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
For the New York Rangers, defense is and has been the name of the game. Whether it was the blue-collar hockey played under John Tortorella, or the faster, speed game employed by Alain Vigneault, defensemen have been crucial to the team’s performance and success.
That reflects in the team’s salary cap as well, where a large portion of the available money is spent towards creating potentially a top-three defense in the entire league. With players like Ryan McDonagh, Keith Yandle, Marc Staal and Dan Boyle populating the defensive core of the Rangers, they form a very versatile and effective group that can shutdown anybody in the league, as well as generate some offense too.
But having so many talented defenseman on one team means that they all get paid for their high level of talent. This also stretched into goaltending, as the Rangers have arguably the best goalie in the NHL in Henrik Lundqvist. On defense alone, the Rangers have $26.75 million invested in their seven defensemen, with Dan Girardi ($5.5) and Marc Staal ($5.7) making the most amount of money. Add in Henrik Lundqvist and the new backup, Antti Raanta, and the Rangers have $36 million going towards the back end. That’s more than half of the allotted salary cap, without spending a dime on the 12 forwards that play every game. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers ship Cam Talbot to the Oilers for three draft picks
Bobby Bevilacqua
The trade has finally happened. Cam Talbot is now an Edmonton Oiler, and will take over their starting goalie duties for next season. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The long awaited Cam Talbot trade has finally taken place, and like many expected, he will be wearing Oilers’ orange and blue next season.
It was expected that Glen Sather was pushing to get a first round draft pick for Talbot after Robin Lehner fetched the 21st overall pick for the Senators, but he was unable to do that, with Talbot remaining a Ranger until today.
The Oilers finally completed the trade with the Rangers, acquiring Cam Talbot to be their starting goalie of the future. In return, the Rangers received a second round pick (57), a third round pick (79th), and they swapped seventh round picks with Edmonton, moving up to the 184th pick.
The Rangers wound up trading the 57th pick to the Washington Capitals for the 62nd and 113th picks. Read the rest of this entry
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