article: The Athletic: This isn?t the End for Marc Staal as a Ranger, but it?s Coming

I'm skeptical that they buy out another defenseman.

 

I agree

Either they get extremely lucky and he retires, which is very unlikely

Or he agrees to a deal and they eat 1/2 his salary

Or they ride it out through next season

 

But they aren’t buying him out

Staak buyout would be a 3.56 cap hit next year and a 1m hit the following.

 

 

You’ll have 10m in dead cap space for next season. Ouch.

Staak buyout would be a 3.56 cap hit next year and a 1m hit the following.

 

 

You’ll have 10m in dead cap space for next season. Ouch.

 

Yup

 

Probably the reason they won’t do it

Staak buyout would be a 3.56 cap hit next year and a 1m hit the following.

 

 

You’ll have 10m in dead cap space for next season. Ouch.

 

Gorton is going to get one right by mistake, odds are with us.

Actually not that bad.

I have 9m in space with a top 6 wing (Kreider replacement), unless you have Andersson or Kravtsov in top 6, then it’s a depth forward.

 

Empty/Andersson? - Zibanejad- Buchnevich

Panarin- Chytil - Kakko

Lemieux (2)- Howden - Kravtsov

Smith - empty/Andersson - Fast (2.5)

 

~74m

 

No Strome, Kreider, Georgiev

ADA at 3.4

Staak buyout would be a 3.56 cap hit next year and a 1m hit the following.

 

 

You’ll have 10m in dead cap space for next season. Ouch.

 

On the flip side, if they keep him but don't play him then it's like 12m in dead cap space effectively.

I agree

Either they get extremely lucky and he retires, which is very unlikely

Or he agrees to a deal and they eat 1/2 his salary

Or they ride it out through next season

 

But they aren’t buying him out

 

I'd be shocked if he retired at 32.

I'd be shocked if he retired at 32.

 

He’d be 33 and change with likely over 1000 games played (Regular and postseason combined) and some pretty significant injuries on his resume by that point. Add into that not being a lineup regular for the only organization he’s ever known, and maybe it’s not all that surprising.

 

It’s only the $5+ million he’d earn next season that makes me doubt the possibility of retirement. Hard to walk away from that

 

Only way I can see him playing anywhere beyond this contract is if the Rangers or a cup contender wanted him as a 7th D on a very cheap 1-year deal. But that’s 20 months from now and he’ll only be older with more mileage and more banged up.

I think the point about dead cap space is misplaced. If, as I pointed out, what they pay him after the buy out plus what they pay a young replacement comes out to the same as what they would pay Staal without a buy out, then buying him out does not have negative cap implications. Obviously, trading with retention is the first choice, but as we learned with Shattenkirk, there are not always takers.