ANAHEIM, Calif. — Tom Renney has made it clear. The Rangers coach doesn’t particularly want to know whether the unresolved Mats Sundin situation is creating a distraction in his team’s locker room.
“What could I say or do that would relieve anything that any of our players might be thinking or feeling?” Renney asked rhetorically prior to the match here last night against the Ducks. “I haven’t really talked to the guys about it, but it isn’t something I sense.
“But then, it wouldn’t surprise me, either.”
Sundin has said he’ll choose a team by Friday. The 37-year-old free agent center has had a two-year, $20 million offer on the table from Vancouver since July 1. The Rangers, who have not made a definitive offer to Sundin, will have to trade or waive at least two players on the current roster to clear salary-cap space in order to make a deal with the former Toronto captain for even half the value of the Canucks’ bid.
The NHL holiday roster freeze kicks in at midnight Friday and lasts through midnight Dec. 27. The Rangers, who play in L.A. tonight, have three games scheduled during the freeze: Saturday in San Jose; Dec. 23 at the Garden against Washington; and Dec. 27 at home against the Devils.
If the Rangers are informed that Sundin is following his heart to Broadway rather than his wallet to Vancouver, the Rangers would be able to place players on waivers up until 3 p.m. New York time on Friday.
Though they technically do not have to clear salary-cap space until they actually register Sundin’s contract (which won’t take place until a day or two before the center is deemed ready to play in a game), their failure to trim or reorganize the roster by Friday means the Rangers would be carrying two or three dead men skating throughout the freeze.
That’s obviously not ideal for club unity or morale. Neither will it be good for club unity or morale if Sundin, who is returning to Stockholm for Christmas, begins practicing with the Rangers the last week of December with the current roster intact.
No team is trading for defenseman Wade Redden, who is 34 games into a six-year, $39 million front-loaded contract under which he will be paid $8 million this year and $8 million next year. No team is trading for defenseman Michal Rozsival, who is in the first year of a four-year, $20 million front-loaded contract under which he will be paid $7 million this year and $6 million next year.
This means the most likely options would involve deleting Petr Prucha and Dan Fritsche from the roster. Making both moves by Friday would add approximately $1.565 millionto the $1 million in cap space they’re currently holding.
Sundin obviously would bump a player from the lineup. Renney said Monday he would not envision Lauri Korpikoski losing his spot, adding that he projects the freshman to move up from his current fourth-line role.
That might make Aaron Voros available for a trade. The left winger, who has struggled since the opening few weeks of the season, is on a three-year deal for $1 million per. Moving him by Friday would clear approximately $612,000 of cap space.
These permutations would add up to allow the Rangers to pay Sundin somewhere between $2.3 million-$2.5 million in real money a and leave the Blueshirts without a shred of maneuverability the rest of the season.