Hartnett: Who's Staying? Who's Going? Previewing The Rangers' Offseason

By Sean Hartnett
» More Columns

With day one of the June 26-27 NHL Draft edging closer and the July 1 free-agent frenzy just over the horizon, the Rangers are searching for ways to alleviate the salary-cap crunch.

Currently, the Blueshirts have approximately $59.5 million committed to 15 members of last season's Presidents' Trophy-winning roster. This includes seven forwards, six defensemen and goaltenders Henrik Lundqvist and Cam Talbot.

With the 2015-16 salary cap announced on Tuesday at $71.4 million, the Rangers are roughly $11.9 million under next season's cap and must re-sign restricted free agents Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin, J.T. Miller and Jesper Fast. That's not a lot of room to work with. Complicating things, 10 of the 15 aforementioned players under contract possess either a no-move or a no-trade clause.

TALBOT WILL COMMAND A HIGH RETURN; TIME TO DANGLE KLEIN

In all likelihood, this will be Talbot's final week as a Ranger. All signs point to Talbot being traded prior to or during the 2015 Draft that will commence at 7 p.m. Friday in Sunrise, Florida.

Alongside Talbot, Eddie Lack of the Vancouver Canucks and Robin Lehner of the Ottawa Senators are two other affordable netminders believed to be on the trading block. Similar to Talbot, Lack has one year remaining on his contract before unrestricted free agency in 2016. Lehner has struggled in recent seasons, but is under contract for the next two seasons. He is due to earn an average annual salary of $2.225 million through the 2016-17 season. At $1.45 million, Talbot is being paid $300,000 more than Lack.

Compared to Lehner and Lack, Talbot is the goalie with all the sizzle. The 27-year-old played like a true No. 1 goalie while a vascular injury forced Lundqvist to miss 24 games. During that stretch, Talbot went 16-4-3 with a 2.16 goals against average, a .929 save percentage and two shutouts. He finished the regular season with a 21-9-4 record, a 2.21 GAA, a .926 SV percentage and five shutouts in 36 games played. Rangers fans voted Talbot as the 2014-15 Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award winner.

If you want a steak, you're going to have to pay steak prices. For Talbot alone, it's going to take at least a second-round pick -- probably with a prospect(s) or an additional pick(s) to sweeten the deal.

The Edmonton Oilers, Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks are strongly pursuing Talbot, who will turn 28 on July 5. With the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers also in the mix, Lack and Lehner are the fallback options for teams scared off by the Rangers' asking price. Per the league's collective bargaining agreement, any team acquiring Talbot would not be able to extend his contract until January 1, 2016.

As the Rangers are looking to recoup picks traded away in recent blockbusters, the time is now to cash in on Kevin Klein's breakthrough season. Klein scored four game-winning goals and finished the 2014-15 regular season with nine goals, 17 assists and a plus-24 rating.

Trading Talbot and Klein would free up $4.35 million in cap space. Klein is due an annual salary of $2.9 million through the 2017-18 season. A package of Talbot and Klein would be particularly intriguing for an Oilers team that must solidify itself on the blue line and between the pipes. It might be enough to get new general manager Peter Chiarelli to part with the 16th overall pick in this year's draft.

After some rough stretches during the regular season, Tanner Glass found comfort in the final stretch of the regular season. His possession blemishes became less frequent as the playoffs neared and Glass did a pretty good job of establishing himself physically throughout the playoffs. His remaining AAV of $1.45 million over the next two seasons has never been more tradeable. There are teams that value Glass' grittiness, physicality and often-overlooked ability as a penalty killer.

It's unlikely that the Rangers would move Glass. Head coach Alain Vigneault is a big believer and GM Glen Sather has always carried one enforcer on his roster. Still, trading Glass is something the Rangers should explore, as many consider Glass' deal to be one of the worst in the league given his long-standing production woes and well-documented possession issues. The 31-year-old finished his first season in New York with one goal, five assists and a minus-12 rating in 66 games.

Versatile forward James Sheppard would be too expensive for the Rangers to keep as a spare forward. The Rangers would like to bring back Matt Hunwick as a depth defenseman, but his solid play probably caught the eye of a few teams that would offer him a decent raise and the chance to play every night. Should Martin St. Louis decide to play another season, it's unlikely he will re-join the Rangers for a third season. His age (40) and sudden lack of playoff production (seven points in 19 games) are red flags. All three are impending UFAs.

POTENTIAL FREE-AGENT TARGETS

The Los Angeles Kings are in a similar situation as the Rangers. With just over $59.9 million committed to 16 players and some key RFAs needing to be re-signed, there isn't a whole lot of room to squeeze Justin Williams onto next season's roster. Bizarrely, Kings GM Dean Lombardi opted to pass on using one of two final compliance buyouts to make Mike Richards' $5.75 million annual cap hit disappear last summer. That decision could cost the Kings dearly, in the form of losing big-game performer Williams.

Richards struggled mightily last season, recording 16 points in 53 games and finishing a minus-10. After going unclaimed on waivers, he was sent to the AHL's Manchester Monarchs for a 16-game stint. To offload Richards, the Kings are hoping to tempt a team into accepting a package that would include a prospect(s), a pick(s), and Richards. Failing that, the Kings buying out Richards would save them $4.5 million in cap space next season.

If Williams slides into unrestricted free agency, he has a strong preference to play for a Stanley Cup contender. The 33-year-old stated in a Sportsnet interview that he is willing to sacrifice dollars to play for a team that guarantees him the best chance of winning.

The underperforming Pittsburgh Penguins are certainly a team that would be hot and heavy over signing Williams. Same goes for the Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals and Islanders. The key word here is contender. It's what the Rangers have proven to be in three of the past four seasons. It would take some clever cap juggling to fit Williams on the Rangers. An upward trending team like the Isles might be able to offer Williams an ideal combination of cash and a chance to win.

If the Nashville Predators allow Mike Santorelli to walk, the Rangers could renew their interest in the versatile 29-year-old forward. The Rangers tried to sign Santorelli last offseason before he accepted a slightly higher one-year, $1.5 million offer from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It would be surprising to see the Rangers get involved in the bidding war should 34-year-old Joel Ward hit the market. Ward will turn 35 on December 2. Ward has stated that he wishes to remain in Washington, but the Caps have a bunch of younger, less expensive forwards capable of filling important roles.

Once Talbot is traded, there is a whole slew of UFA goalies available -- Jhonas Enroth, Anders Lindback and Thomas Greiss are some potential fits.

WHO'S READY TO MAKE THE JUMP?

Left-handed defenseman Brady Skjei, 21, proved he could handle big minutes at AHL Hartford. The former first-round pick has the positional sense and skating ability needed to seriously compete for a spot on the Rangers' opening-night roster. Despite his lack of professional experience, Skjei is ready for the big time. Known more for his reliable play in the defensive end, Skjei will one day develop into a solid, all-around defenseman.

Right-handed Dylan McIlrath will also be given a chance to show he's added positional smarts to go along with his heavy-hitting game. Like Skjei, the 23-year-old is a former first-round pick.  Unlike Skjei, there are concerns about the slow-skating McIlrath fitting into Vigneault's uptempo system.

Another prospect that appears ready to break through and land a spot on the 2015-16 Rangers is Swedish center Oscar Lindberg. Lindberg played one game last season --against Calgary on February 24 -- and he looked the part. The 23-year-old recorded 56 points (28 goals, 28 assists) in Hartford last season. Lindberg projects to become a dependable, two-way center at the NHL level and has a good amount of upside.

PROJECTED OPENING-NIGHT LINEUP:

Nash-Brassard-Zuccarello

Kreider-Stepan-Hayes

Hagelin-Moore-Miller

Glass-Lindberg-Fast

_________________________________________________________________

Yandle-McDonagh

Staal-Girardi

Skjei-Boyle

_________________________________________________________________

Lundqvist, Enroth (backup)

Follow Sean on Twitter @HartnettHockey.