The NHL offseason is here for 2014 now that the Stanley Cup is over the NY Rangers have some tough decisions to make as Rick Nash and Brad Richards have not performed up to their salaries and that could lead to trades or buyouts this offseason, especially for Richards, as his contract could stay on the Rangers salary cap for years based on the new CBA and that is one reason why they need to make a move.
The Rangers lost in five games to the Kings in a Stanley Cup Finals that was marred by terrible calls and missed penalties and now the Rangers have some big moves to make. The team has five very important free agents and on top of that they have Richards and his nine-year, $60 million deal that could stay on the cap through 2020 if the team doesn't get rid of him. Richards is 34 and while he played very well this season at times, the money may not be able to work this time. Nash is a goal scorer that has not done much of that with the Rangers and his $7.8 million salary may not be able to be justified either.
The Rangers come into the offseason heartbroken and they are hoping to turn things around this year and get back to the Stanley Cup. The Kings were the better team, but the Rangers played better at times and were beaten by the officials and now the roster could look very different come next season. The Rangers may not trade either player and they may not get rid of Richards, but right now at his age and with that money, it could be the time to do so.
The Rangers made a big move this season with the trade for Martin St. Louis and while they had to give up multiple first round picks and Ryan Callahan, clearly the move was worth it. The team made it to the Stanley Cup for the first time in 20 years and while they lost, it was still a great run. Glen Sather has some hard questions to answer and fans may not be happy with the results. Nash should be a consistent 40 goal scorer, but he has not done that recently and the playoffs were another example of him not coming through.
Richards and Nash played well at times, but at one point Richards was demoted to the fourth line and Nash was kept off the power play and now that could lead to moves this offseason for both players after getting beat in the finals. The offseason has a number of players that could get moved, including names like Marc-Andre Fleury, James Reimer, Mikko Koivu, Evgeni Malkin, Dion Phaneuf, Jason Spezza and Ryan Kesler as well as Kris Letang and some of those names could net nice packages.