We Have Cap!

One reason it has been so hard for NHL clubs - like the Rangers - to make deals and go after free agents (even our own) is that the NHL had not set the 2009-2010 salary cap yet.

It's hard to negotiate player salary if you don't know how much money you have to spend.

But late last week - along with the draft - the NHL teams sat down and agreed on a cap number. That number is $56.8 million, up a little from last year's $56.7. This gives the Rangers an extra $100,000 to go hunt out some big free agent talent - not a promising war chest.

So where does this leave us?

Well, we know that the already-signed players - including 6.5 million for Redden, 5 million for Rozsival, and 7.3 for Gomez (it's hard to write that). If we just re-sign all our current free agents at last year's salaries (which we can't do), we'd have about $2 million left over (which we won't).

Which means of course, that we'll have to give up some current players if we want to go after anyone new. And can we dump some salary in the process?

In other words - it may be off season for us and the players - but for Glen Sather and associates, this is as busy as it gets. Good luck, Slats.