carl hagelin
Carl Hagelin

Once again it seemed like Rangers GM Glen Sather had little to no maneuverability under the salary cap, and once again Slats found a way to wriggle his payroll under the cap ceiling.

By exploiting a to this point little-used clause in the new collective bargaining agreement, Sather got Arizona to eat half of Yandle’s contract. Of course Sather had to sweeten his offers to persuade the Coyotes to offer financial aid, but Sather still shrewdly found a way to take on salary and improve his club when it seemed to be nearly impossible.

The Coyotes will absorb half of Yandle’s cap hit again next year, but the $2.625 million the Rangers have added to their payroll is still going to be difficult to work around given that the guys Yandle is replacing, John Moore and Matt Hunwick, counted just $851k and $600k, respectively, against the cap this season.

So how much space do the Blueshirts have with which to operate? That’s a very tricky question since the cap hasn’t yet been set, but there will undoubtedly be precious little room to re-sign key pending free agents Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin and Martin St. Louis (not to mention J.T. Miller and Jesper Fast, who will also be deserving of modest raises). Banishing Tanner Glass to Hartford will clear $1.45 million $925k, but that’s not going to be nearly enough to accommodate pending raises.

One popular suggestion is to trade disappointing D-man Dan Boyle, but the 38-year-old has a guaranteed contract and a full no-movement clause. He could agree to waive it, but Boyle specifically chose to finish out his career in New York, so that’s unlikely.

Sather could also opt to trade surprising veteran Kevin Klein while his value is at an all-time high, and indeed Klein’s $2.9 million cap hit would nicely cancel out Yandle’s remaining year. That’s a likely scenario, but dealing either Boyle or Klein would leave a gaping hole on the right side, where the Blueshirts are much thinner. Captain Ryan McDonagh does have experience on his off-hand and could be asked to make the switch, but that might not be to the team’s greatest benefit on the ice. If Klein were dealt, the team would fill its sixth and seventh blueline positions with minimal salaries.

Then of course there are the three free agents. There’s no way Stepan will be traded, he’s far too vital to the team’s makeup. The choice is likely between St. Louis and Hagelin.

There’s plenty of reason to believe St. Louis will take a hometown discount given that he came to New York intending to retire in close proximity to Connecticut. How much of a discount is the key question. If St. Louis would agree to a massive reduction in salary to say, $2 million including performance incentives, as Teemu Selanne did for his final year, then this whole problem becomes much easier to solve. But if St. Louis still wants to be paid in the range of what he’s truly worth, which is well within his rights, then Sather may either have to turn his back on the Hall of Fame winger that cost so much to acquire last spring, or say goodbye to Hagelin.

Hagelin’s recent play has only complicated things further. Since the team had speed to burn down the wings, it was assumed that Hagelin would price himself out of Sather’s salary structure. But with burner Anthony Duclair now out of the picture, that speedy depth is a little less impressive, and there’s another projected spot open on the wing next fall. Sather will undoubtedly play hardball with Hagelin, but it’s no longer a sure thing that he’ll simply allow the Swede to exit Broadway.

If the organization believes that Russian prospect Pavel Buchnevich will be NHL ready in October, then he could take Hagelin’s position in the top-nine and provide a cheaper source of labor. Wolf Pack leading scorer Oscar Lindberg could also be penciled in if Sather needs to trade Dominic Moore in a real penny-pinching move.

The team’s financial situation was cloudy before the trade deadline, and it’s even cloudier in the days after. But as we should know by now, there’s no such thing as an untradeable contract (looking at you, David Clarkson), and Sather always has a trick up his sleeve to make the money work.

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