SPLASH STRAPPED
Rangers lack cash to get feet wet in free agency
It has been some time since the Rangers created a July 1 splash by jumping into the deep end of the free-agent pool — since 2011, when the Blueshirts came away with Brad Richards (and that actually was July 2, but you get the point).
That recent trend won’t change when the market opens at noon Friday. The combination of a dearth of cap space to invest in a thinned-out field plus an absence of open spots on a roster that remains frighteningly similar to the one that was excused quickly from the first round of the playoffs has created a scenario under which the Rangers are expected to seek low-cost, depth options.
Thursday’s gargantuan onefor-one, in which P.K. Subban and Shea Weber were dealt with a combined $112 million remaining on their contracts, was yet the latest reminder that everyone — and every contract — is in fact tradable. It remains as true today as it was the day the Rangers dispersed for the summer that the necessary makeover of the roster will be accomplished through trades, not through the addition of free agents.
Even though general manager Jeff Gorton has been active doing due diligence and attempting to pull off deals — The Post has learned the Rangers tried hard to get the fourth-overall selection from Edmonton in last week’s entry draft but could not make it work — sources report the Blueshirts have been offered pennies on the dollar in return for primary asset Rick Nash.
Trades will have to wait. Clubs who swing and miss at the cream of this year’s free-agent crop — Milan Lucic, Andrew Ladd, David Backes and Loui Eriksson — will perhaps be more willing to engage in hard bartering when the dust settles on this signing period.
Accounting for the approximately $10 million it will take to sign restricted free agents Chris Kreider, J.T. Miller, Kevin Hayes and Dylan McIlrath, the Blueshirts have in the neighborhood of $4.35 million with which to fill out the roster.
As the market opens, the Rangers need speed up front, prima- rily on the bottom six; a penaltykiller or two; and a depth right defenseman. Fourth-line center Dom Moore is gone, and Viktor Stalberg appears on his way out.
While the team has holes to fill, it would be folly to load up with veteran free-agent signings that likely would lock out younger people such as Marek Hrivik (or even Boo Nieves) from a legitimate shot at making the club. That’s one of the issues management is confronting regarding a possible return from Stalberg, who understandably is seeking a considerable bump from the $1.1 million he earned in 2015-16.
The Blueshirts’ main freeagent target won’t become available until Aug. 15. That’s Harvard 23-year-old winger Jimmy Vesey, whose rights were traded from Nashville to Buffalo after the Hobey Baker winner eschewed all Predator offers.
Vesey, by the way, is a close friend of Kevin Hayes, which may be one of the reasons the Blueshirts have not dangled No. 13 around the league following an almost impossibly disappointing sophomore season.
The Rangers seem to be approaching Friday’s opening of the market realistically. Would they love to add Matt Martin? You bet, but the Islanders crasher is likely to cash in on a multi-year deal worth at least $2.75 million per year, which is too expensive for the Blueshirts.
So the Blueshirts are expected to take a run at Michael Grabner; check in on Brandon Pirri; look at Darren Helm and maybe even Lauri Korpikoski; and check out Eric Gryba. But if the cost is inflated (as it usually is for at least the first couple of days of free agency), Gorton could just as well wait for the prices to drop before wading into the action.
In other words, this isn’t 2011 anymore.