O'Reilly Re-Signs With Avalanche; No Rangers Contact With Zuccarello (UPDATE: Wouldn't Have to Clear Waivers If Signed)
UPDATE (James Wrabel):
Expanding on Zuccarello, if the Rangers do plan on signing him at some point this season, the new CBA may actually favor the team where in year's past it wouldn't have...
For example, if NYR decided to sign RFA Mats Zuccarello for stretch drive this season, he wouldn't require waivers to play this season.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) March 1, 2013
Players signed from Europe in the past would have to clear waivers before reaching their teams (See Evgeni Nabokov). A wrinkle in the new CBA gives teams who sign players off their RFA Reserve list an exemption from waivers.
- Important to keep in mind if/when the Rangers and Zuccarello talk contract. For the record, I wouldn't be against bringing back Zuke at the right price, especially if the power play continues to struggle. His vision and passing ability helped in his brief time last season before getting hurt.
Original Post:
ESPN.com reports that the Colorado Avalanche have matched the offer sheet that Ryan O'Reilly signed with the Calgary Flames yesterday.
The offer is reportedly for two years, $10 million.
...while O'Reilly is a very skilled player and would likely thrive in Tortorella's system, I'm happy to see the Rangers not end up getting him. No way he is worth $5 million per as well as possibly giving up some young talent to get him.
While O'Reilly still hasn't stepped foot on the ice this season, Derek Stepan, who was one of the players rumored to be traded for O'Reilly, continued his resurgence by doing this last night...
In other transaction news, Andrew Gross at the Bergen Record notes that despite reports that the Rangers are interested in bringing back Mats Zuccarello, the two sides have not spoken.
...obviously the Rangers interest is going to be driven upon how well they're doing. Also, with Zuccarello's KHL team in the playoffs he might not end up being available for a few weeks, so by then the Rangers could have ripped off 10 straight wins and have no need for the hobbit.
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Kreider has a goal tonight, Thomas has a goal, Mash has an assist, and McIllrath is a +2.
As for zucarrello, by the time he is ready we will not need him if we can play like we did last night every night. I even think the power play looked very good last night. I think having Rick Nash does that. It is almost like having kovalchuk or stamkos... No matter where the puck is on the PP the other team needs to know where he is on the ice. That opens up a lot of space for the others to thrive. If we had someone with a better shot than Richards on the point it would be even better.
The best part about the Oreily deal, would have been that if Calgary had gotten him thy would have had to put him on waivers because he had played in the KHL for two games earlier this year. If that had happened the flames would have lost their first and third round picks, and another team could have easily claimed him...
The owners have to take advantage of entry-level guys and RFAs to stay under the cap. That contract is a bad precedent for owners for sure. The way I look at it, given what a "very good" player should make, on average, at each position as a FA, the entry level and RFA discount needs to be about 20%. Of course, if you consider that they can get an even greater discount than that on entry-level guys (like Stepan etc.), then maybe you don't need to discount RFAs as much, but clearly, you have to keep the new talent coming to stay competitive. Here's how I think it adds up. What do you think? (keep in mind these are average salaries per year to field a good team if you had nothing but UFAs)AVERAGE salary Totals
1st Line 7.00 7.00 7.00 21.00
2nd Line 5.00 5.00 5.00 15.00
3rd Line 2.50 2.50 2.50 7.50
4th Line 1.00 1.00 1.00 3.00
1st Line D 5.00 5.00 10.00
2nd Line D 3.50 3.50 7.00
3rd Line D 1.50 1.50 3.00
Goalie 7.00 7.00
Back-up 1.50 1.50
Misc. Mistakes, Cap hits & Other 3.00
Grand total 78.00
Entry-level and RFA contract discounts needed (15.00)
Entry-level and RFA discount as a % of total 19%
Current Cap 63.0
with Nash in the line up we're fine. only issue is - we now see that we bet the farm on Nash and I pray he stays healthy.
Everyone will be gunning for him after the no response the last time he was plastered against the boards
That's exactly why the Rangers have to get a little tougher. Nash has to be protected. You can't let guys just hit him at will.....doesnt matter if they are clean hits...a good clean hit good cause Nash to miss significant time.You need to limit those hits....and send a message to opposing players trying to hit him.
And like ChrisD said concerning Nash...."everyone will be gunning for him". You better believe they're coming after him.
To paraphrase a gun lobby saying....
"It's better to have a great enforcer and not need him, then to need a great enforcer and not have him."
Read that ROR would have had to pass through waivers if signing with Calgary since he played in the KHL when the season had started. Means Calgary might have given up two picks and then lost him on waivers back to the Avs.
Just about everybody was involved in that play. Pyatt on the forecheck, working along the boards and in front of the net. Girardi pinches in to keep the puck in the zone and move it down to Callahan who finds Stepan. Good position by Pyatt in the slot to draw a little attention away from Stepan.
The $5 mil per year isn't the worst part of that deal for O'Reilly. He's making most of it next year as he has a salary of $6.5 mil which means his qualifying offer next summer needs to be at least that high. No thank you.
@KevinDeLury Yep. You can guarantee he will be traded on March 1, 2014 due to that. I'm actually surprised that Colorado matched knowing that. Otherwise them matching makes some sense.
I know the kid helped the Rangers, but I really don't want a smurf on the team. The Rangers have enough trouble playing a physical game. We need some bigger, stronger, grittier players. That said -- and please don't shoot the messenger -- if there was a way to do it, would you trade Gaborik before the deadline if we could get solid value for him? Honestly, I've had enough. He's like the invisible man out there. Lastly, the PP... are you kidding me? Still? And what is with all of the wrist shots from the point. I've never seen another team do this to the extend the Rangers have. That's what slapshots are for!!!
@TheNYRBlog you see how Calgary could have lost him to waivers? Possibly to the avalanche? #doh!
