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Sather: Talent, not contracts, will decide Rangers roster

Wade Redden

New York Rangers’ Wade Redden (6) helps deflect a shot as goalie Henrik Lundqvist (30), of Sweden, looks on during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, Oct. 12, 2009, in New York. Redden had a goal and two assists as the Rangers won 7-2 for their fifth straight victory. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

AP

One NHL GM that has his hands full with roster wrangling during training camp is the Rangers Glen Sather. Sather, often the focus of derision from Rangers fans and haters alike, is under the gun to make the right decision(s) to get the Rangers under the salary cap before the season starts. While the leading suspect to help get the Rangers under the cap (which they’re over by more than $4 million right now) is Wade Redden, Sather says that making decisions based on money isn’t how they’re going to handle training camp. Andrew Gross of Rangers Rants got the lowdown from Sather.

On whether decisions are based on talent/fit/salary:
“I’d say talent and fit, I don’t think salary should have a big distinction on whether a guy makes a hockey team or not.”

On whether he’s confident about cutting salary:
“Yeah, I’m sure we’ll be able to do that. There’s lots of ways to do it.”

On whether he’s looking for deals:
“Well it depends what happens in the next couple of weeks. Nobody’s making any phone calls right now. I shouldn’t say nobody. There have been a couple of calls before camp started. People have offered some good players, they’re willing to give up draft picks to get out of their contracts. But I want to see what our kids do here first before we do anything. See how they look in games, give them a chance to perform under some pressure. There’s a big difference between Traverse City and coming here. We’ve only had one scrimmage. Things have a way of balancing themselves out.”

Cutting through the talk here, Sather isn’t going to let money dictate decisions and no one is calling him about deals at the moment and he wants to see what the rookies and new guys will do in camp before making a move. In other words, when time sneaks up on him he’ll find a way come hell or high water to get under the cap.

It’s not really earth-shattering news, but it does open up the possibility that if Redden has a great camp that he’ll find a way to stay in New York instead of being shuttled off to the AHL and Hartford. Looking at the Rangers salary cap situation on CapGeek, sending Redden to the AHL is the quick fix solution to get under the cap but if he’s able to produce and play like an All-Star again, the Rangers’ cap solutions get trickier.

Dumping Redden in the AHL is also an extremely expensive move to make as Redden will still make the same money whether he plays in Manhattan or Hartford. If the Rangers are willing to stow him away in the AHL, that’s owner James Dolan’s financial headache to manage.