Hartnett: New Rangers GM Gorton Is Passing Early Tests With Flying Colors
By Sean Hartnett
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When Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton took charge on July 1, he inherited a roster that was carefully molded into an Eastern Conference superpower by predecessor Glen Sather.
The Rangers stand as a model of consistency in the fiercely competitive salary cap era, reaching three conference finals in the past four seasons and qualifying for the playoffs in nine of 10 seasons.
It's no easy task to remain in the NHL's elite bracket. With success comes a difficult balancing act made tougher by salary cap constraints. Keeping key pieces intact, drafting well, infusing each coming season's roster with difference-making acquisitions pushes a franchise one step closer to hoisting Lord Stanley. If a GM gets it right, a strong team gels into one that's still standing in late May and if things break the right way – is competing for the ultimate prize in June.
Every deep playoff run puts a tightening squeeze on precious cap space. Naturally, developing players will seek raises and tough calls will need to be made. Dreaded traps await – a free agent overpay, overvaluing popular players by re-signing them to bloated extensions, being on the wrong side of a one-sided trade, the cap crunch forcing productive players to slip through your fingers, blown early round draft picks. It can fall apart quickly.
Just look how quickly things have spiraled in Boston.
In 2013 the Bruins were competing in their second Stanley Cup Final in two years. Gorton left a large imprint on the 2011 Stanley Cup champion Bruins while serving as interim GM in 2006. His acquisitions of Tuukka Rask, Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand were all integral to the Bs ending a 39-year championship drought.
Gorton's replacement, Peter Chiarelli, paid the price this summer for a succession of blunders that sent the once-mighty Bruins into a free fall. Even though Chiarelli put the finishing touches on Boston's 2011 championship, his poor cap management snowballed into a series of bad decisions that cost him his job.
The Bruins were burned by a one-sided deal that sent Tyler Seguin to the Dallas Stars. Cap mistakes forced Boston to trade dependable defenseman Johnny Boychuk to the Islanders. He wasted first-round picks on flops Zach Hamill, Joe Colborne, and Jordan Caron. Those three names will cause Beantown hockey nuts to shudder for years to come.
When Sather stepped aside, he left Gorton with a roster built to win now. That philosophy also meant that Gorton walked into a situation where he had to tread carefully given the Rangers' delicate cap health. Gorton has easily passed his early tests.
Over the past two days, he signed restricted free agents: Oscar Lindberg, Emerson Etem, Dylan McIlrath, Jesper Fast, and J.T. Miller to cap-friendly deals. Gorton was able to tie down those five RFAs to an annual cap commitment of just over $3.924 million, averaging about $785,000 annual-average value per player.
Keeping the cost low on these RFAs was vital. With roughly $6.75 million left in remaining cap space, the Rangers may have the room needed to re-sign indispensable RFA Derek Stepan ahead of a scheduled July 27 arbitration hearing in Toronto.
In the eyes of many Rangers fans, Gorton will be judged by how he handles the Stepan situation. Even though Sather eventually masterminded the Rangers' ascent to powerhouse status, a segment of diehard fans will never forgive him for trading away beloved defenseman Brian Leetch days before the March 9, 2004, trade deadline. Although an aging Leetch was at a separate point of his career compared to the 25-year-old Stepan, and the 2003-04 Rangers were on the verge of missing the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season, it's about getting the big calls right. To this day, the Leetch trade stings Rangers fans as much as Sather's theft of Ryan McDonagh from the Montreal Canadiens causes them to point and laugh at the Habs' misfortune. Leetch was supposed retire as a one-franchise player.
If Gorton is able to tie down Stepan to a long-term deal, it will avoid the possibility of the alternate captain jumping ship as an unrestricted free agent in 2017. Stepan is a prime-aged center who has proven himself to be critical to the Rangers' recent success. He is an all-situation performer, whose star ability is trending upward. Stepan has also grown into a dressing room role model.
"The fact that the guys in the room come to me is something I'm grateful for," Stepan said in January. "I'm blessed to be able to have the opportunity to help guys. Moving forward, I'd just like to continue to try to help as much as possible."
If Gorton is able to sign Stepan to a long-term pact without paying through the nose, Rangers fans will be screaming Hallelujah.
Follow Sean on Twitter at @HartnettHockey
