fro Sreve Zipay of Newsday,

Fifteen players are under contract -- seven forwards, six defensemen and goalies Henrik Lundqvist and Cam Talbot -- putting the club about $11.5 million under the salary cap, which is projected to be about $71 million.

With 10 of those players having various no-move or no-trade clauses, that's a serious squeeze, which means to sign their key restricted free agents -- center Derek Stepan and wingers Carl Hagelin, J.T. Miller and Jesper Fast -- the Rangers must make tough choices.

They cannot afford to keep unrestricted free agent Martin St. Louis, who is 40 years old and carries a $5.6-million cap charge. He wore down late in the season and the playoffs. They almost certainly will trade Talbot, a valuable backup who is being sought by teams in need of a No. 1 netminder. He is due to earn $1.45 million in 2015-16.

And that still might not provide enough flexibility to resign RFAs and add depth, which is why there has been speculation about trading players such as defenseman Kevin Klein, who earns $2.9 million a season.

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