Blog Archives
Martin St. Louis announces his retirement
Bobby Bevilacqua
Martin St. Louis has finished his Hall of Fame career as a Ranger. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
After 16 seasons, 1,241 NHL games, 1,033 points, three different teams and one Stanley Cup Championship, Martin St. Louis has retired from the National Hockey League as a member of the New York Rangers.
St. Louis, 40, sees his career come to a close following a 16 year adventure that saw him play for the Calgary Flames, Tampa Bay Lightning, and finally the New York Rangers. In over 1,200 career games played, St. Louis totaled 391 goals and 641 assists, putting him in the exclusive 1,000 point club, with just 82 players ever accomplishing that feat.
“I have been blessed to play for 16 years in the NHL; it has been an amazing ride,” St. Louis said while making the announcement. “I would like to thank the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers organizations and owners for providing me the opportunity to play the sport I love for so many years. I could have never played for so long or accomplished all that I have without the unwavering love and support from my wife, Heather, our three sons, Ryan, Lucas, and Mason, and my parents.” 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
Rangers trade Carl Hagelin to Anaheim for Emerson Etem
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers have traded the rights to Carl Hagelin as well as some picks to the Anaheim Ducks for Emerson Etem and a higher second round draft pick. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The Rangers made their first big trade of the day, and it didn’t involve Cam Talbot (yet).
During the second round of the draft, the Rangers traded the rights to Carl Hagelin along with the 59th and 179th pick to the Anaheim Ducks for Emerson Etem and the 41st pick in the second round.
Carl Hagelin is an upcoming RFA, and was due for a big raise, something that the Rangers could not afford. Hagelin earned $2.25 million this past season, and was expected to command over $4 million. With Sather needing to sign Derek Stepan, as well as some other key players like Jesper Fast and JT Miller, there was very little room to sign Hagelin. Read the rest of this entry
Robin Lehner traded to Buffalo, what this means for Cam Talbot
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Ottawa Sabres were able to get a first round draft pick in exchange for Robin Lehner and Devid Legwand. Talbot’s stats are better, so could he fetch the same return, or more? Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
This morning, the Buffalo Sabres acquired their new starting goaltender, trading away the 21st overall pick in return for David Legwand and 23 year old goalie Robin Lehner.
While Lehner is younger than Talbot, his stats are not all that impressive. The 6-foot-5, 225 pound goaltender has a career 30-36-13 record in 86 total games, posting a .914 save percentage and a 2.88 GAA. In this past season, Lehner was 9-12-3 in 25 games with a .903 save percentage and a 3.02 GAA.
His largest sample size came during the 2013-14 season, when he played 35 games, and finishing with a 12-15-6 record along with a .913 save percentage, a 3.03 GAA and one shutout. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers need to clear cap and trust the kids on defense
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers need to clear cap space in order to re-sign their RFAs. To do that, some cap needs to be cleared on defense, and players like Dylan McIlrath and Brady Sjkei, both first round picks, should get playing time in the NHL. Photos courtesy of Jim McIsaac/Getty Images and MSG Photos.
The Rangers are currently in a bit of a cap crunch. As of right now, the Rangers have $59.5 million tied up in 14 players. The salary cap for next year is expected to rise to around $71 million, potentially rising slightly higher than that figure. Using that number, Glen Sather have $11.5 million free to sign seven free agents.
For this upcoming offseason, the Rangers will have to decide what to do with their three unrestricted free agents – Martin St. Louis, James Sheppard, and Matt Hunwick, and four restricted free agents – Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin, Jesper Fast and JT Miller.
Its expected that Sather plans on signing all four of the restricted free agents, which he should do, as they are all young, talented players that can be counted on for the future. Derek Stepan will be the most expensive, and Carl Hagelin could also get a good raise. Hagelin, Miller and Fast could wind up getting bridge deals, something that Sather does quite often.
There is a problem with trying to sign all of the RFAs. According to an estimate by Joe Fortunato from Blueshirt Banter, re-signing Stepan, Hagelin, Fast and Miller would cost around $13.5 million, more than the Rangers would have free in cap space. It also means that there would be absolutely no room to sign St. Louis, Hunwick or Sheppard. Read the rest of this entry
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