The New York Rangers have made it clear that head coach John Tortorella will be back next season having already signed a three-year extension. He milked the most out of a low-scoring squad dealt more than its fair share of injuries, and they still gave the top-seeded Washington Capitals all they could handle in the first round of the playoffs. He deserves to be back. But who’s coming with him?
The Rangers refused to mortgage their future at the traded deadline to acquire Dallas Stars center Brad Richards, but now that he’s an unrestricted free agent, he would look pretty good in a Rangers uniform on the top line next to Marian Gaborik. There will be plenty of rumors in the hockey news pairing the two parties together as Richards played for Tortorella during their Cup-winning season in Tampa Bay back in 2004.
That might be tough for the Rangers, who are already strapped for cash. The Rangers have seven restricted free agents to deal with – including key cogs Brandon Dubisnky and Ryan Callahan – so they may not have enough room under the salary cap to welcome a big contract like Richards, who is coming off a five-year, $39 million deal with the Stars.
The Rangers will have to talk to Chris Drury and see if he’ll take a buyout as right now, he’s making just over $7 million and he notched only one goal, albeit a key one, in an injury-filled season. The Rangers are likely considering moving Sean Avery, Wojtek Wolski and Derek Boogard. The AHL Whale might be one of the places they are considering although Europe could also be a possible destination to unload their contracts as that would clear more than $7 million.
There will be a few big names coming off the books as Alexander Frolov, Vaclav Prospal, Ruslan Fedotenko and Bryan McCabe are all unrestricted free agents. The Rangers will have to carefully maneuver to find a way to replace some of these key cogs but also find a way to trim down their spending. There is no question that they are a team that has too much money tied into players who are not contributing enough.
The Rangers had a productive 2010-11 campaign and while the offseason has just started, it is clear they will have a different look to them next season.
