Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Lack Of Depth May Hurt The Rangers

08/03/2014 at 8:35am EDT

from Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe,

It was a given that the Rangers would buy out Brad Richards upon the conclusion of their Cup run. They needed to apply the 34-year-old’s annual cap hit toward their restricted free agents: Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider, and John Moore.

They did just that by saying goodbye to Richards, reclaiming the center’s money, and sending it right back out the door to Brassard (five years, $25 million), Zuccarello (one year, $3.5 million), and Kreider (two years, $4.95 million). They will re-sign Moore before the start of camp.

The rearranging of money ($6,666,667 in from Richards, $5.825 million for 2014-15 out to the three RFAs, with the difference earmarked for Moore) may be a wash. But it doesn’t mean the Rangers will be as good as they were last year. They’ll probably be worse.

The Rangers will always be competitive with HenrikLundqvist in goal. Ryan McDonagh will be a Norris Trophy finalist some day. Rick Nash is a puck-hungry behemoth. These are star players.

But what made the Rangers the best team in the East was their depth.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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