As news about the potential flat NHL salary cap spreads, the rumors about the league granting teams amnesty buyouts to stay cap compliant grow. The Rangers have a history of using their amnesty buyouts, using it all three times the option was available:
This time around would be no different, and the Blueshirts really only have four options: Henrik Lundqvist (one year, $8.5 million cap hit), Marc Staal (one year, $5.7 million), Brendan Smith (one year, $4.35 million), and Jaocb Trouba (seven years, $8 million). Remember an amnesty buyout removes the full cap hit without penalty, unlike the Dan Girardi and Kevin Shattenkirk buyouts.