The New York Rangers have returned defenseman Connor Mackey to the Hartford Wolf Pack. Mackey was recalled five days ago after Carson Soucy’s suspected concussion, but never dressed for a game. Following the recent recall of Scott Morrow–who has a skill set the Rangers sorely need on the blue line–and confirmation that Will Borgen is good to go, it made little sense to keep an 8th healthy defenseman on the roster.
With the Rangers starved for cap space, the need to return Mackey to Hartford was evident. It is refreshing to see Morrow stick with the Rangers, and perhaps he’s still with the Blueshirts because they intend on playing him during this road trip. The Rangers need another offensively inclined defenseman, something that was clear even before the season started. Adam Fox can’t do it all, and though Morrow has flaws, he moves the puck extremely well.
As a reminder, LTIR does not remove a cap hit. It allows a team to go over the cap ceiling by that cap hit. Since only Vincent Trocheck is on LTIR, the Rangers can go above the cap ceiling by his $5.625 million cap hit. However the more they use, the less cap space they have available at the trade deadline. Teams cannot accrue cap space while using LTIR overages.
To make things even more confusing: Placing a player on LTIR does not automatically mean a team won’t accrue cap space. This only happens if they go over the cap ceiling while using LTIR. Clear as mud, right?
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