If I Were The GM – Part 1

The general manager’s job in the NHL is one of the more exclusive positions around. There are only thirty openings in the entire world, all of which are arguably filled with some of the smartest, most talented hockey minds in the business. As much as fans like me dream of having that job someday we realize it will never happen. However knowing that can’t stop me from pretending to be the GM of the New York Rangers for a few posts here on Ranger Nation, can it? I didn’t think so.

This is the first in a five-part series detailing some of the plans I would engage in order to improve the New York Rangers. I don’t expect everyone to agree with the plausibility and/or rationality of some of the moves I would make, or try to make rather, but I will present a compelling argument defending each one.

Step one is to acquire a proven NHL scorer. A lack of goals played a major role in the playoff ouster against New Jersey and fixing it is probably priority number one on the agenda of everyone associated with the Rangers. With Marian Gaborik expected to be out until somewhere around December after shoulder surgery, finding another offensive player becomes even more important.

Here is the first of a few of the options I would explore.

Sign UFA LW Ray Whitney

Whitney has been a consistent point producer during his career and last year was no exception as he tallied 77 points (24 goals, 53 assists) in 82 games. Over the last 14 seasons, Whitney has recorded an average of 0.857 points-per-game while suiting up for 73.5 contests per season. That works out to about 63 points in a normal campaign.

The 40-year-old winger has not posted a single-season average of fewer than 0.64 points per game over the last 14 seasons and that occurred way back in 2003 – 2004 with Detroit. Over the past four seasons his points-per-game averages have been: 0.94, 0.73, 0.76 and 0.94. He’s also been quite durable during this time, surprising given his age, as he’s suited up for all but nine games in the last four seasons.

Yes, his age does scare me some but even though Whitney is now 40, I think it is still reasonable to expect something close to a full schedule played and production around 60 to 65 points. An average season for Whitney over the last 14 is 23-40-63 (7-19-26 on the PP). Those are solid numbers to add to the lineup.

His cost is likely to be reasonable as well. His cap hit last season was just $3 million and despite a terrific year he might not be in line to expect much more due to his advanced age. Now he did sign that deal with Phoenix because they were the first club to offer him a multi-year deal in the summer of 2010. It’s conceivable he may be looking for a similar deal (i.e. two years) or if amenable to a shorter term he may want a little more money. I would be comfortable going up to $3.75MM for this season.

With the addition of Whitney at that hypothetical price and making educated guesses as to how much it might cost to re-sign restricted free agents Del Zotto and Stralman while also holding onto unrestricted free agents Prust, Biron and Mitchell and a promotion of Erixon, here is what the roster would like like.

As for the free agent re-signings, I gave MDZ $3 million because he’s just not as important to the club as Dan Girardi and Marc Staal and therefore should earn less. I’m sure his camp would argue differently and cite the recent extensions of Tyler Myers and Drew Doughty as comparables but Doughty is simply the best D-man on the planet right now and Myers was an overpayment. I think $3 million is fair even if perhaps a little lower than what he’ll ultimately get.

Prust got a tad bit more than Boyle but the big center brings more offense to the table than Prust. I have Prust earning more than Rupp, who signed as an UFA last summer. If he gets to the open market he might see his salary rise to around $2 million but for purposes of this article I think $1.75MM is reasonable.

Stralman was just issued his qualifying offer at $945,000 by the Rangers who now hold his rights for the coming year. Granted he could hold out for more but considering he was without a job a month into this past NHL season he may want to settle up quickly to guarantee a job.

Biron was a tough one coming off the second season of a deal averaging just $875,000 per. He is undoubtedly due a raise but how much of one? Tomas Vokoun’s new deal with Pittsburgh, where he’ll be the backup to Marc-Andre Fleury, might set the market for veteran former starting goalies who are now backups. I went with $1.25MM as it represents a nice raise (nearly 43%) with the idea it would again be a two-year deal providing Biron extra value in terms of security.

Using those numbers the Rangers would have over $9 million under the expected cap of around $70.3MM. Of course we have to subtract the buyout of Chris Drury, $1,666,667 leaving just about $8 million under the cap. That provides enough space to account for a possible decrease of the cap in the new CBA and/or gives the Rangers some wiggle room to go after another defenseman since it looks less likely that Sauer will be healthy enough to play in 2012 – 2013. As for whom that replacement may be, we’ll get to that in part four of the series.

Even if we agree that some of the Rangers free agents will get more money than what I’ve projected, this team should be in good shape relative to the cap ceiling.

Up next: Dealing with the Ducks?