PHILADELPHIA — Glen Sather has been around long enough to know exactly what he was doing when he sauntered over the assembled media at Saturday’s NHL draft at Wells Fargo Center and began to lay the foundation for what could be a rather tumultuous summer.
The Rangers general manager began by making it clear he was surprised by the league’s announcement on Friday, just before the first round of the draft, that the salary-cap ceiling would be $69 million, about $2 million less than the winter projections.
“Heck, it was a surprise for every guy out here,” Sather said. “We all expected it to be higher. … We’ll do what we have to do.”
The pinch leaves the Rangers in a difficult spot, with about $23 million in cap space to fill out an NHL roster that currently has just two goalies, four defensemen and six forwards under contract (including J.T. Miller, who even Sather penciled in as a main contributor next season).
“We already traded one guy to get some relief,” he said about shipping fourth-line winger Derek Dorsett and his $1.633 million cap hit along to the Canucks on Friday in exchange for a third-round pick. “We’ll see what happens here in the next week.”
It hasn’t helped Sather’s cause that the league has now allowed a window for teams to speak to unrestricted free agents before the opening of the market on July 1, with that window opening at midnight on Wednesday.
“It’s a little strange,” Sather said, diplomatically voicing his displeasure.
Sather then began to negotiate against his own free agents, both of the restricted and unrestricted kinds that are in his midst. He felt a lot of them may have high monetary expectations because of the team’s success this past year, going to the Stanley Cup finals, where they lost to the Kings in five games.
“We got to the finals, but we didn’t win,” Sather said. “So I think realistically, some of these guys are going to have to pull the horns in a little bit.”
Specifically, Sather took jabs at restricted free agents Mats Zuccarello and Chris Kreider, both of whom are arbitration-eligible — making it possible for them to sign one-year deals and then become unrestricted in 2015.
“Zuccarello had a great year,” Sather said. “He played well, he did everything we wanted him to do. He sees the ice as well as anyone in the game.”
Then Sather pointed out he started last season playing in the Russian KHL, and became the Rangers’ leading scorer this season on a one-year deal.
“He really only had one good year here so far,” Sather said.
Concerning Kreider, Sather mentioned he started this season in the minors.
“That’s what we’re going to talk about,” he said. “There are a lot of other things going on.”
Unrestricted winger Benoit Pouliot was another topic of conversation, the mercurial talent having played well this past season on his one-year deal.
“He found a place where he was very comfortable, the coach liked him, his line was very good together, had a good structure, they had good chemistry,” Sather said. “Now if he goes on to another place, he could be back in the same situation where he was two years ago.
“You have to decide yourself what you’re looking for. Is it money, a few more dollars or something like that? In my book, it’s always winning.”
Winning is Sather’s main focus because it has to be, and yet there seems little he can do in this financial situation to keep unrestricted free agents Anton Stralman and Brian Boyle. Yet coming off the franchise’s most successful season in two decades, Sather’s roster is in major flux, and it could result in a very different team next season — whether he likes it or not.
“You can have a good team, but if you have players that aren’t willing to accept their roles, then you’ve got conflict all the time and that creates problems,” Sather said. “I’m not interested in problems.”