Let's be honest here: If Ryan Reaves had been a Ranger during the 2020-21 season, there's no way in hell Tom Wilson would've slammed Artemi Panarin to the ice like a rag doll. There's also no way in hell the Islanders would've manhandled the Blueshirts three straight down the stretch, outscoring them a combined 13-1. The word around the NHL was that the Rangers were soft. And that was putting it mildly.
Reaves' arrival in the summer of 2021 sent a clear and unambiguous message that the days of this team being a patsy were over. From his first shift on opening night, he hit everything in his path. And on those rare occasions when a player who obviously didn't get the memo foolishly decided to take him on, he would glare back at him as if to say, "Dude, you have a choice: you can die of old age or right here and now. Your call." Fortunately, most reconsidered.
Ryan Reaves did his job. This team is respected around the league. Better still, every player in that locker room stands up for each other. When someone is challenged, the whole team responds. I haven't seen a locker room this tight and together since the days when Mark Messier donned a Rangers uniform. Mission accomplished, as far as I'm concerned.
But the sad truth is that if you watched Reaves in the postseason, it was clear that the spirit was willing but the flesh just wasn't up to the task. He was slow, and I mean slow like 1970s Nick Fotiu slow. He was so out of position that he eventually became a defensive liability in his own zone. Frankly, I wasn't surprised that he was a healthy scratch the last couple of games in the Lightning series.
The way the game is played these days you need to be quick on the puck and possess the skills necessary to help your team win. You don't have to be a 20 or 30 goal scorer, but you have to at least keep the other team honest. Apart from his physical prowess, Reaves doesn't do a single thing that can help this team get to the next level, which at this point must be winning the Stanley Cup. He doesn't kill penalties, he's useless four on four, and don't even think about putting him out there on the power play.
With the signing of Vincent Trocheck and the soon to be, any day now, keep your shirt on extension of Kaapo Kakko, the Rangers will have less than $1 million in available cap space if they elect to go with twenty-two players on the roster: thirteen forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies. That's cutting it pretty close. To put that in perspective, last season, the Rangers had the most cap space of any playoff team in the league. That allowed Chris Drury to go shopping for Frank Vatrano, Andrew Copp, Tyler Motte and Justin Braun. I need not remind you what contributions those players made to last season's playoff drive.
Obviously, this season presented challenges for Drury that required some creativity on his part. In addition to finding a replacement for Ryan Strome and extending Kakko, there were the new contracts for Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox that were kicking in this season to the tune of $8.5 million and $9.5 million respectively. Fortunately, Henrik Lundqvist's buyout was over, so that gave him $1.5 million to play with. There was also the trade of Alex Georgiev to the Avalanche that freed up an additional $2.4 million, $1.5 of which went to Jaroslav Halak. With the Coyotes agreeing to take Patrick Nemeth's contract off his hands, Drury at least had a fighting chance of putting a good team out on the ice.
But no matter how much he sharpens his pencil, there's simply no math that allows Drury to keep Reaves on this team, not if he plans on being active at the trade deadline, which I presume he will be.
If you look at Capfriendly, the way you calculate deadline cap space is by taking the available cap space and multiplying it by 4.65. So a team with, say, $1 million in available cap space would be able to take on $4.65 million in contracts at the trade deadline. With Reaves on the team, Drury would only have about $3 million in deadline cap space. With him gone and a cheaper replacement on the roster, that amount would go up to $7 million.
Why does that matter? Let's say it's March, and Patrick Kane is still a Chicago Blackhawk, and the Rangers are flirting with the best record in the Eastern Conference. Drury places a call to Kyle Davidson to inquire what it would take to pry him away. The two agree on the compensation, but Davidson balks at retaining 50 percent of Kane's cap hit. He wants at least 60 percent and informs Drury he has two other teams that are willing to meet his demands. 60 percent of $10.5 million comes out to $6.3 million.
Beginning to get the picture? If Drury doesn't have enough deadline cap space, Kane goes to another team, perhaps one in the Eastern Conference like, say, the Carolina Hurricanes. Imagine losing a best of seven playoff series because your opponent was able to snatch up one of the better forwards in the game. Drury cannot let that happen. If there is anyway to get Kane into a Rangers uniform that doesn't involve giving up key assets, he must do it.
Look, Ryan Reaves has been a solid citizen in the Rangers locker room. He has done everything the organization has asked of him. But it's time to move on. In the era of the flat salary cap where every dollar counts, $1.75 million can better be spent elsewhere, like the final piece on a Stanley Cup championship.
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