With the Rangers remaining idle for the past week, there wasn’t much news to go around. There were a few bits and pieces on the prospect front, but that was it. The only item that came up was that the NHL approved ads on jerseys this year, to complement the ads on the helmets. Naturally this had a lot of purists up in arms, as the NHL sweater “is a sacred place.” However ads on the jerseys are a good thing.
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1. Before getting into why they NHL jersey ads are a good thing, let me first state that I understand the purist mentality. American pro sports has never had ads on the jersey. Europe has had them in almost all professional sports leagues, and while most are done tastefully, there are a few that are a bit overwhelming. I’m referring to the one in the featured image above, of course. But that is not the only jersey that is inundated with ads. The NHL would be better not going this route, as it eliminates the beauty of the team logo on the front. But that is not what the NHL is aiming for.
2. The ads on NHL jerseys will, at the moment, be a smaller ad on the front of the jersey. Location will be left up to the teams. Most teams have it easy, as the team logo is in the middle of the jersey with ample space on each corner to place an ad. The Rangers, however, have a diagonal logo, thus are more limited in their options. For example, I can see teams avoiding the top left corner where the ‘C’ and the ‘A’ go on players. That leaves them with three other corners. The Rangers, though, lose the top right and bottom left corners to the R and the S in RANGERS. Thus, the only option is the lower right corner.
3. Another reason not to be alarmed: Remember how much people thought they hated the helmet ads? Did you even notice them throughout the regular season? Did you even remember there were helmet ads until I just mentioned it here? They were barely noticeable. You can’t see them in person, that’s for sure, and you barely noticed them in live action on TV. The only time we saw them was in closeups of the bench or on specific players during play stoppages.
4. Here’s the real reason why this is a good thing: It brings in much needed HRR to deal with the flat cap. The NHL’s salary cap is tied to revenue, and there hasn’t been any for the past year and a half. Ticket and merchandise sales only go so far for one season, and this is another added piece to the pie. NHL jersey ads will accelerate the process of getting out of the flat cap years. Original projections had the league with a flat cap for 3-4 more years. Perhaps the ads accelerate this to 1-2 more years? This is a way for everyone to recoup money, and is a good thing for the league. More money is a good thing.
5. A flat cap was particularly detrimental to the Rangers, who have a bunch of young talent on ELCs. If the cap remained flat for an extended period of time, they’d be hard pressed to keep some of their younger talent as they need new contracts. Even minimal gains in cap ceiling go a long way to keeping players like Kakko, Lafreniere, and Miller under contract beyond 2023-2024, which is about the time the Rangers will be hitting a cap crunch. There’s always a way to get things done, but this will likely give the Rangers flexibility in a few years. A 10% increase ($8 million) in the cap between now and 2023-2024 seemed unrealistic due to COVID. But now there’s at least a chance it could happen.
6. Off the NHL jersey ads for a bit. I find it interesting that the Rangers signed Brennan Othmann so soon after the draft. We know the command center was thrilled to draft him. But the Rangers don’t really have a history of signing their draft picks immediately after the draft, save for Kakko and Lafreniere. Othmann isn’t going to compete for a roster spot this year. He’s not really taking up roster space or a spot on the reserve list, as his contract will slide. Perhaps this is just Drury tying up loose ends. We’ve seen that Drury is methodical and patient, but when he knows what he wants he makes sure to get it. However the conspiracy theorist in me knows that a player signed to a contract has more trade value than an unsigned player. This may not hold as much weight with recent draft picks, but it’s still a general rule to follow. Given Drury’s desire to keep Nils Lundkvist, Braden Schneider, and Filip Chytil out of trades, does Othmann fit that bill?
7. Karl Henriksson will be at camp this year for the Rangers. This is a bit odd since it’s either making the Rangers or back to Sweden, as he’s not 21 years old yet. The Rangers don’t do this often, so it makes you wonder what the thought process is. It could be as simple as wanting to get a longer look at a kid they have high hopes for. He’s been called out by his coaching staff in Sweden as a key cog for Frolunda. Perhaps he’s there to put some pressure on the bottom-six centers? Or, going full Q here, maybe they want to bring him over for Buffalo to get a better look at him in NHL games, even if they are preseason? The most logical answer is usually the right answer, so it’s likely just the Rangers getting a better look at what they have.
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