New York Rangers deal Ryan Reaves to Minnesota: What it means for salary cap, trade deadline
The salary cap-clearing move the New York Rangers needed to make came to fruition Wednesday.
In many respects, it was a best-case scenario.
In trading forward Ryan Reaves to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick, Rangers team president Chris Drury was able to shed the veteran forward's full $1.75 million cap hit.
In an instant, the once-cap-strapped Blueshirts went from roughly $200,000 in cap space to just under $2 million. More important, this puts them on pace to accrue more than $6.6 million in cap space by the time the March 3 trade deadline arrives, according to CapFriendly, assuming they can maintain a 22-man roster, rather than stretching to the maximum 23.
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Reaves requested the trade while the team was in Los Angeles earlier this week, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, who spoke to lohud.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, who requested anonymity.
The request had been brewing as the result of seven healthy scratches in the last eight games for the 35-year-old. He was brought to New York in the summer of 2021 to add toughness and leadership, quickly becoming a beloved figure in the locker room. But his lack of on-ice contributions beyond the occasional fight made it harder to justify a spot in the lineup.
Head coach Gerard Gallant recently cited a desire to add more speed as the reason for removing Reaves. His preferred fourth line of late has featured Sammy Blais, Ryan Carpenter and Julien Gauthier, who is a much better skater and has seized the opportunity since being recalled from AHL Hartford last month.
Had the Rangers placed Reaves on waivers and demoted him to the AHL, they would have only saved $1.125 million against the cap. But by finding a willing trade partner, Drury was able to clear the full $1.75 million cap hit.
This opens a wide range of possibilities for the Rangers. Through the accrual process, they should have the flexibility to make at least one impact addition at the deadline.
It's become increasingly clear that they'll need to fortify the current roster. They did that last season by acquiring forwards Andrew Copp, Tyler Motte and Frank Vatrano, along with defenseman Justin Braun, but all four departed in free agency. That left the Rangers thin, with their five-on-five offense struggling, in part, due to the lack of depth.
Expect them to attack their areas of weakness with the added cap space. At least one top-nine forward will be at the top of their wish list, with speculation sure to run rampant surrounding Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane. And if the Rangers can get into that $6.6 million range by March, they'd be able to make the trade straight up without needing a third team to facilitate the deal, assuming they can persuade Chicago to retain half of the $10.5 million average annual value on the final year of Kane's contract.
It won't be Kane or bust for the Rangers, though. Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat, who's in the final year of a deal that pays him $5.5 million, is now in their wheelhouse. And if they can persuade the St. Louis Blues to retain part of forward Vladimir Tarasenko's $7.5 million AAV, the same can be said for the dynamic Russian.
It's also entirely possible they go in a different direction, with new targets sure to emerge as teams decide whether they're going to be buyers or sellers in the coming months.
Don't rule out a depth defenseman, either, particularly if the Rangers aren't convinced 22-year-old Zac Jones is the solution on the bottom pair.
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Ryan Reaves traded by New York Rangers to Minnesota Wild
