Brian Boyle entered the playoffs as close to having two skates out the door as possible for an impending free agent, consigned as he was to the fourth line and a diminished role through the regular season.
But circumstances have changed through his team’s run for the fourth senior Ranger, and they have changed dramatically for No. 22, who has re-established himself as a critical component of this Stanley Cup finalist.
Boyle, who will turn 30 in December and has worn the Blueshirt for five seasons, is one of those rare players around the league who invariably elevates his game in the postseason. A big body who doesn’t always play to his size during the preliminary 82, he uses all of his physical attributes during the tournament. He wins faceoffs. He kills penalties. He is strong on the puck. And you never see him sweat.
He will be in demand on July 1 if he gets there. When Boyle is on his playoff game, he can play for anybody. There is no doubt about it. The question is whether he wants to play for anybody else.
The questions are: a) How much the Rangers would be willing to pay him as a fourth-liner on a team whose four-line structure is critical to its success; and, b) Would Boyle be willing to remain in New York as a fourth-liner regardless of the money if other teams offer equal compensation in addition to the promise of an expanded role and playing time?
Know this: Fourth-liner is not a disparaging term when it comes to an Alain Vigneault team. The Rangers’ fourth line consisting of Boyle, Dom Moore and Derek Dorsett is as important to this team as the Crash Line consisting of Bobby Holik, Randy McKay and Mike Peluso was to the 1995 champion Devils.
All things being equal … but all things are never equal. Boyle loves wearing the Blueshirt, he loves playing in New York for a team that has won more playoff rounds the past three years than every other team in the league except the Kings and Blackhawks. That much is clear.
But it is not clear whether enhanced compensation — I don’t know, let’s throw $10 million over three years as a starting, if not finishing, point — would be enough for Boyle to remain here in this role if another team dangled third-line ice time or power-play opportunities in conjunction with the cash.
There is no doubt in my mind it is imperative for the Rangers to make the effort. Players who thrive in the playoffs don’t grow on trees. The cost of losing such a player generally exceeds the cost of keeping him.
There is a price to be paid in order to win the Stanley Cup. We are all aware of the sacrifices required to get through four grueling rounds of the playoffs. The Rangers already have played 20 games in the tournament, just shy of another quarter of the season, with up to seven more in front of them.
But there’s an alternate price that accompanies a run such as the one the Rangers are on, and it’s the price management must pay in order to keep as much of a winning formula intact as possible.
And Blueshirts management is going to have to pay to keep Boyle and defenseman Anton Stralman off the open market as unrestricted free agents; will have to pay Dominic Moore a tidy increase to keep him from testing unrestricted free agency; will have to pay Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello on multi-year deals in order to keep the impending restricted free agents from filing for one-year arbitration awards that would make them eligible for the open market in 2015; will have to pay on an extension in order to prevent Marc Staal from entering his walk year; and will have to pay non-arbitration eligible Chris Kreider enough on a second contract to avoid the same type of damaging stalemate that occurred last summer with Derek Stepan. Impending free agent Benoit Pouliot? Good question.
It is about the next two weeks for the Rangers, as they return to the practice ice on Sunday after a couple of days off following the Game 6 clincher against Montreal on Thursday. But the finals will not be played in a vacuum. And business decisions loom soon thereafter, beginning with the critical call regarding a potential amnesty buyout of de facto captain Brad Richards that will have an impact on every other move over the summer, given the $6.67 million of cap space at stake.
The advancement of four major market, revenue-powerhouse franchises from New York, Montreal, Chicago and Los Angeles to the conference finals has produced a cash-register playoffs for the NHL (and NHLPA).
It has been a cash-register playoffs for Boyle and a number of his teammates as well. Rangers players have paid a price for success. Management will be paying the price soon enough.