The Unfulfilling Marriage Between Kevin Shattenkirk And The NY Rangers Has Come To An End

After the Rangers locked up the best forward and defender on their squad, it was evident they would eventually need to make moves in order to become cap compliant. Buchnevich (who inked for 2/$3.25M per), Deangelo & Lemieux (who will assumedly play for 1-year minimums or not play in the NHL at all) were still left to be signed - so the front office needed to make around $4-5M in space. Trades were speculated around the expiring contracts of Kreider, Namestnikov and Strome but a buyout seemed an inevitable reality. And here we are as I expected. After a dismal two seasons, Kevin Shattenkirk has had the sweater he dreamed of wearing as a kid taken away.

From an immediate financial standpoint, that takes care of business for the Blueshirts this season by freeing up a little over $5M. The "poison pill" comes into play next year where, because of how Shatty's contract was structured, NY will be on the hook for almost the full amount of his $6.65M hit. Obviously that's not ideal. However, with at least 7 players on rookie deals & somewhere around $15M in expiring contracts it's not going to absolutely hamstring the franchise to sign the three forwards they'll need to add next summer.

There's a lot of uproar from Rangers fans who think this was a huge mistake. That Marc Staal should've been on the chopping block instead. I get the venom. Staal stinks. But so does Shattenkirk. He sucked in Washington. He sucked his first season here (everyone’s acting like he’d have won a fucking Norris if he hadn’t hurt his knee) and he sucked again last year. There’s simply no room for him on a right side loaded with guys that are all better, younger versions of what a declining Shattenkirk could be at this point. Tony D & Trouba are mainstays. Fox will have to earn his spot but he’s a much better prospect than anyone ready to make the jump on the other side.

Speaking of the left side, it's clearly much weaker. Behind Skjei (who’s got a lot to prove in his own right), who else is there? I love Hajek but let’s be honest. He was terrible in the AHL. Yeah he looked good in a handful of games on the big stage before going down with a shoulder injury but he’s no sure thing to pick right back up from there. Smith was so bad Quinn had to make him a forward. Lindgren? Rykov? All big-time unknowns – and forcing a youngster like Fox or Tony to play on his off-side just to accommodate Shattenkirk isn’t exactly the best developmental plan. Neither is having Shatty learn to play the left side with a kid on the other.

Listen, nobody likes the fact that Staal is still on this roster – although I do think he serves a valuable leadership purpose for a young back end and could play competent 3rd-pair minutes. If he’s forced to play a bigger role than that because no one else is ready to leapfrog him, it further proves keeping him was the right call. There aren’t any other legitimate options right now and like it or not, this team is looking to fight for a wild card spot this season. A veteran presence on the back end is a must.

And going back to the financials - Staal's buyout would've forced the Rangers to make additional moves for this season as it would've shaved around $2.2M less. They could have navigated it by burying Smith in the AHL & shipping off half of Namestnikov's or Strome's final year for peanuts, but why force out a depth forward before the season starts when there's a lot of young question marks up front as well? As far as next year, Staal would've been on the books for $2.3M less than Shattenkirk will be. Significant, sure, but fans are acting like that extra money just cost the Rangers the Cup. Relax, nerds.

Here's the bottom line. The Rangers needed to become cap compliant right now. They did so in one move by eliminating a bad player with a bad contract who plays a RD position not impacted at all by his departure. Expiring contracts and several players making 6-figures will help in swallowing next year's extra dead money. Perhaps a cap limit increase helps even more. I'm sorry the bane of our existence will continue to wear #18 on the ice in a few months but this was the right string to cut.