With the National Hockey League salary cap not expected to rise much — players mindful that pumping it with an escalator could come back to bite them in escrow payments — teams near the top of the $73 million US limit were trying to free up space this week.
With the Las Vegas expansion draft increasing the importance of protecting assets, tough calls have to be made.
The Rangers are buying out the last three years of defenceman Dan Girardi’s contract, at $5.5 million per season. That will allow them to protect another defenceman in the draft, perhaps Kevin Klein or Nick Holden.