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2010 NHL free agency: Rangers re-sign Marc Staal

Marc Staal

New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal (18) of Canada reacts after scoring in the third period of the Rangers’ 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders in an NHL hockey game at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., Tuesday, March 30, 2010. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

AP

The Rangers summer of fretting and worry can finally come to an end today. The Rangers have come to terms with restricted free agent Marc Staal on a five-year contract. The final totals are five years at $19.875 million and the years and a cap hit of $3.975 million per year break down like this as Craig Custance tweeted.

The annual breakdown on Staal deal: $3.1 million / $3.675 / $3.775 / $3.875 / $5.45

Rangers fans may be picking themselves up off the floor as this is a brilliant deal for the young and ready to breakout Staal. Even more stunning is that the contract doesn’t have a no-trade or no-movement clause. Of course, lost in all this is that the Rangers are now, according to CapGeek’s salary calculator, more than $4 million over the salary cap.

If you’re looking for a quick fix to this problem, feel free to turn your attention to defenseman Wade Redden and his $6 million cap hit. Unless Redden turns back the clock and has the best training camp since his early seasons in Ottawa, it seems almost assured that Redden will be on a bus bound for Hartford and the AHL to help rid the Rangers of his brutal cap hit.

If Rangers fans had a choice between Redden and perennial pariah Rozsival ($5 million cap hit) they’d still likely choose to send Redden to the AHL. That said, it’s very possible that the battle in training camp could come down between those two high-priced guys. Redden’s contract goes for four more seasons whereas Rozsival’s is good for two more. Maybe the Rangers could find a trading partner for either Redden or Rozsival but both players have limited no-trade clauses where they won’t accept deals to certain teams. Speculating on trades is just putting the cart before the horse in this case though.