8/1/19 | 2PM: The Rangers have confirmed the Shattenkirk buyout and President John Davidson released the following statement:
“Today’s decision was a very difficult one. Kevin is a great person and teammate and he was extremely proud to be a New York Ranger. We wish him and his family all the best going forward.”
7/31/19 | 6:14PM: According to Brett Cyrgalis, Rick Carpiniello and David Pagnotta, the Rangers are buying out the final two-years of Kevin Shattenkirk’s contract.
Shattenkirk’s agent confirmed the buyout to Pagnotta.
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By buying out Shattenkirk’s ($6.65 million) contract the Rangers will save:
- $5.16 million in cap space this season and $566,667 in cap space next season.
By buying out Shattenkirk’s contract, the Rangers will have the following in dead cap space for the next four seasons:
- 2019-20: $1.483 million
- 2020-21: $6.083 million
- 2021-22: $1.43 million
- 2022-23: $1.43 million
In two seasons with the Rangers, Shattenkirk had 7 goals and 44 assists, a minus 29 rating and an average of 19:27 per game in 119 games.
Shattenkirk signed a four-year deal worth $26.6 million on July 1, 2017, reportedly turning down offers of more money and more term.
Shattenkirk said in June that he didn’t see why the Rangers wouldn’t bring him back and that he was excited that the Rangers were rebuilding quicker than most thought. (Newsday)
He said that adding Jacob Trouba was “big” for the Rangers an noted that in his conversation with Jeff Gorton at the end of last season was about “coming back and having a big year next year.” (Newsday)
Shattenkirk said, “I think I want this to work out more than anyone. I want to know what it’s like to win in New York and bring a championship here. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid and it still is.” (Newsday)
Adam Rotter: This isn’t the move I would have made, but it gets the Rangers under the cap and doesn’t force them to make any potential trades from a point of weakness just to clear cap space. There is no doubt that Shattenkirk was a disappointment in his time with the Rangers and that while the injury he suffered in his first training camp impacted him, he also didn’t fit with where the Rangers are going. The Rangers that he signed with looked like a team that might have another playoff run or two in them, after losing what should have been a winnable second round series against Ottawa, but that team couldn’t be further from where the Rangers are now. Only 8 of the players that suited up in his first game as a Ranger are still on the team.
I thought that Shattenkirk would be with the Rangers and get a chance to start the year in the top-four and with some PP time so that he could hopefully find his game and increase his value. I thought that someone during the course of the season might take a flyer on Shattenkirk via a trade at half his salary but the Rangers decided to go in this direction. It’s a move that makes sense from a roster standpoint and if the Rangers feel like the big moves they’ve made this summer won’t necessitate new big salary players next summer, then the Rangers won’t be punting this year’s cap problems to next year. The Rangers may be a little quieter next summer and wait to make other big moves until after the 2020-21 season when Staal, Smith and Henrik Lundqvist all come off the cap.
Ultimately this has to be a roster decision for the Rangers that also happens to work with the cap. Marc Staal was more cost effective to buy out but he has a bigger role on this team. Brendan Smith also would have been more cost effective to buy out but his versatility at being able to play both sides on defense and even up at forward probably saved him. Sitting Smith for an extended period also wouldn’t be the same kind of story or distraction that sitting Shattenkirk would be. In the end this is the move the Rangers decided to make to clear up cap space. It gets them pretty much compliant in one fell swoop and allows them to keep working on other deals that may increase cap space down the line.