NY Rangers have placed 4th liners W Arron Asham & C Darrel Powe on waivers today. Is this a harbinger of Sather's intention to NOT include them in next season's top-25 roster spots? Let's take yet another slightly-revised look at NY's salary cap situation should this be the case:
Hagelin*(1.8000) ----- Stepan*(3.2500) - Callahan (4.2750)
Kreider (1.3250) ----- Richards (6.6667) ----- Nash (7.8000)
Zuccarello*(1.8000) - Brassard (3.2000) -- Dorsett (1.6333)
Haley (0.6000) --------- Boyle (1.7000) ------ Pyatt (1.5500)
XXXXXXXXXX ---- XXXXXXXXXX --- XXXXXXXXXX
McDonagh*(4.0000) -- Girardi (3.3250)
Staal (3.9750) --------- Stralman (1.7000)
Del Zotto (2.5500) --- XXXXXXXXXXX
Moore (0.9650) ------- XXXXXXXXXXX
Lundqvist (6.8750) / Biron (1.3000)
TOTAL PAYROLL ABOVE: $60.3 Million
(leaving $4 million in cap space for bottom 4-5 [call-up] roster spots)
AHL Candidates:
LD --- Connor Allen -------- (1.7750)
RW -- Danny Kristo -------- (1.3000)
RD -- Dylan McIlrath ------ (1.2950)
F ---- J.T. Miller ----------- (1.2442)
C --- Darrel Powe ---------- (1.0667) [Waived 07/04/13]
W --- Arron Asham -------- (1.0000) [Waived 07/04/13]
F ---- Kyle Jean ------------ (0.9250)
F ---- Josh Nicholls -------- (0.9250)
F ---- Ryan Bourque ------- (0.9000)
W ---- Jesper Fasth --------- (0.9000)
LD --- Justin Falk ----------*(0.8875) [RFA]
C ---- Michael St. Croix --- (0.8700)
W ---- Andrew Yogan ------ (0.8000)
F ---- Oscar Lindberg ------ (0.7600)
RD -- Stu Bickel ------------- (0.7500)
W ---- Marek Hrivik -------- (0.6850)
RD -- Sam Noreau ---------- (0.6450)
RD -- Tommy Hughes ------ (0.6083)
F ---- Brandon Mashinter -*(0.6050) [RFA]
F ---- Jason Wilson --------- (0.5883)
LD --- Danny Syrvet -------- (0.5875)
F ---- Michael Kantor ------ (0.5833)
* = Hypothetical contract with guesstimated cap hit
* * * * *
Minnesota Wild have exercised an amnesty buyout on RD Tom Gilbert. Gilbert is 30 years old and capable of playing 20+ minutes per game, making him one of the top-tier right-handed defensemen hitting the open market tomorrow. Others include Ian White, Marek Zidlicky, Joe Corvo & Ryan O'Byrne. Perhaps available at the post-buyout discount era of Gilbert's career, it would not be surprising to see GM Glen Sather make a pitch for Gilbert. Girardi & Stralman remain the only two righties capable of playing big minutes. Stu Bickel, Dylan McIlrath, Sam Noreau and/or Tommy Hughes represent minor league righthanded-defensemen under contract, should the 3rd pair vacancy be (unlikely) awarded to an in-house righty pointman.
The additions of low-cap hit, left-handed defensemen Justin Falk & Danny Syrvet continue to poke a curious preponderance of Michael Del Zotto's future as a NY Ranger. The trade for NCAA scoring leader RW Danny Kristo can only provide more secondguessing as to W Chris Kreider's certainty of a roster spot this October as well.
Unrestricted free agency begins within 24 hours. Let the chaos begin.
