If you take a snapshot of the Rangers’ cap status on an off-day, you will see thy might have just under $8 million of available space. But that qualifies as an optical illusion.
Because nearly all of that space is a consequence of removing players such as Igor Shesterkin, Kaapo Kakko and K’Andre Miller from the NHL roster by sending them to the taxi squad in paper transactions in order to accrue savings based primarily on entry-level bonus provisions.
After refilling the varsity for games such as Thursday’s 3-2 shootout victory over the Flyers, the Blueshirts have a true amount of around $675,000 of available space. That is a function of the fact they have had Jack Johnson (who returned to action Thursday) and Filip Chytil on injured reserve for a substantial length of time and have needed to recall reinforcements. Players on IR count against the cap.
It is also a function of the Rangers absorbing a $3.725 million cap charge on Tony DeAngelo’s one-way contract, which has been assigned forevermore to the taxi squad. Oh, and of the bonus overage, too. But you knew that.
Jacob Trouba is the latest Blueshirt to go down, the defenseman having sustained a broken thumb on Tuesday in blocking a shot by the Devils’ Will Butcher. Trouba is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks. The question confronting management is whether to place Trouba on long-term injured reserve.
If Trouba — who carries an annual cap hit of $8 million — were to go on LTIR with the Rangers $675,000 under the cap, they would gain an additional $7.325 million in space during his absence. That would allow management to bolster the slumping club by making a deal or two, which would entail adding payroll. Of course, the Rangers would have to shed the additional money upon Trouba’s return so putting No. 8 on LTIR would provide only temporary relief.
There are other mitigating factors for general manager Jeff Gorton and the front office to consider before placing the defenseman on LTIR.
First, Trouba might be able to return before missing 10 games and being sidelined for 24 days. The Blueshirts’ 10th game is 20 days away. They are scheduled to play two games in the interim before the 24-day requirement would be met.
Second, and maybe more significant, if Trouba goes on LTIR, the Rangers would forfeit the benefit of accruing taxi-squad cap savings on their entry-level players’ bonus provisions. For example, by assigning Shesterkin to the taxi squad, the team would save on the goaltender’s $832,500 base, but not so much of a penny on his $2.85 million bonus package.
So while there would be a temporary benefit to placing Trouba on LTIR, the preponderance of evidence suggests such a move would not be worth it.
Mika Zibanejad, without a goal for 12 straight and with a sum of one on the year, was on for 4:30 of the Rangers’ 7:56 of power-play time, but he was skipped over on the second-period man-advantage on which Colin Blackwell scored before skating with the second unit on the next and final regulation PP. Zibanejad was out for the four-on-three overtime power play.
“Listen, we’ve all talked about Mika’s struggles,” coach David Quinn said. “To me, he’s still finding his game and at some point in time the people that are playing better have to go out there. so that’s kind of what the thought process was.”
Coach David Quinn went with Kakko in the leadoff spot of the shootout after Kevin Hayes had been denied in the top of the first by Alex Georgiev. Kakko had gone 1-for-2 in shootouts as a rookie a year ago.
“If they missed the first one, I was going to go with Kaapo to start because obviously Mika and Bread [Panarin] have such a great track record in shootouts and I just didn’t want Kaapo to be the third guy going with all that pressure.”
The Rangers killed all five Philadelphia power plays and have snuffed 28 of the last 29 over the last eight games. The team did take four offensive zone penalties, however, two by Ryan Strome, one by Chris Kreider and one by Kakko. … Strome won 15 of 23 draws as the Blueshirts won 34 of 62 at the dots.
The Rangers play in Washington on Saturday afternoon. They will return home following the match before returning to Philadelphia for their contest Wednesday.
