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Rangers must clear space for Sundin

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Updated Dec 15, 2008 9:41 PM ET
     
 
It won't take an announcement from Mats Sundin to deduce whether the 37-year-old free-agent center still has the eyes for Broadway that The New York Post first reported on Aug. 17. With the NHL holiday roster freeze going into effect on midnight Friday and lasting through midnight on Dec. 27, the New York Rangers effectively have the next few days to begin clearing cap space that would allow them to sign the former Toronto captain and get him in uniform by the end of the month. Having traveled west with a full complement of players following the recall of seventh defenseman Corey Potter for the three-game California tour, the Blueshirts have until Friday to complete a trade or place players on waivers. As mandated by Article 13.15 of the collective bargaining agreement, the roster freeze does not prohibit the addition of players. Thus, Sundin theoretically could be signed in time for the Blueshirts' Dec. 27 match at the Garden against the Devils. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Post in an e-mail correspondence on Thursday that Sundin's contract would not be counted against the cap until it is registered with the NHL. Thus, the team could without penalty reach an agreement in principle with Sundin in advance of the contract registration. Sundin could even practice with the team prior to the contract being registered. Sundin, who met with GM Glen Sather and selected members of the hockey department in New York this weekend, left the Garden with pals Henrik Lundqvist, Markus Naslund and Fred Sjostrom after watching Saturday's shootout victory over the Hurricanes from a suite. Sundin told friends money will not be the prime factor when it comes time to choose a team. That's good news for the Rangers, who have but a mere pittance of what the Canucks — believed the lone alternative — can offer. The Blueshirts currently have approximately $1 million of cap space. Pro-rating cap hits, the Blueshirts would need approximately $2.877M of space on Dec. 27 in order to be able to offer Sundin a full-season contract of $5M, half of Vancouver's standing bid. Trading or waiving Petr Prucha by Friday would add approximately another $1M of space. Returning freshman Lauri Korpikoski — who has had three straight games of under 10 minutes of ice time — to the AHL Wolf Pack by Friday would add approximately another $635,000 of space. That would give the Rangers about $2.635M of space — enough to allot Sundin around $4.25M. Understand, the Rangers are not trading Michal Rozsival to Dallas in exchange for the right to bury Sean Avery in the minor leagues. They are most certainly not attempting to deal Scott Gomez. They are not trading Chris Drury, the captain with the full no-movement clause. Unless a trading partner willing to deal for Rozsival ($5M) or Wade Redden ($6.5M with a limited no-trade clause that eliminates eight specified teams from consideration) materializes out of thin air, it appears the Rangers will have to take this piece-meal approach to clearing cap space. And they will have to hope Sundin is willing to take a comparatively small piece of the pie in order to play Broadway.
Tagged: Sean Avery, Petr Prucha, Canucks, Corey Potter, Chris Drury, Wade Redden, Hurricanes, Stars, Lauri Korpikoski, Devils, Mats Sundin, Rangers, Henrik Lundqvist, Michal Rozsival, Scott Gomez, Markus Naslund

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