NHL Free Agency and Trade Rumors: 5 Reasons Why Chris Drury Is Being Bought Out
New York Rangers general manager Glen Sather is prepared to buy out the final season of Chris Drury's five-year, $35.25 million contract, according to a report by Jesse Spector of the New York Daily News, who cited an anonymous source.
"He's gone," the source told the Daily News.
The buyout of Chris Drury will create $3.3 million in cap room for the 2011-12 season. However, it will also cost the Rangers $1.6 million in cap space for the 2012-13 season.
While this may come as a shock, the writing has been on the wall for quite some time
Here are some reasons why Glen Sather and the Rangers are making the right decision.
1) He Is Aging and Has Become More Injury Prone
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Chris Drury is no longer a nimble and agile skater. He has old brittle bones and shows signs of wear and tear. He went down twice this year with a broken finger. He just had the worst of luck and it severely altered his game.
This feeling was not only acknowledged amongst the fans but it was also felt by the coaching staff. Tortorella made it clear on breakup day he believed the best course of action going forward was to buy out Drury.
Chris Drury is just not the player he used to be.
2) Drury Hasn't Lived Up to Contract He Signed
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Chris Drury was signed on July 1,2007 to a five-year, $35.25 million contract.
This contract was given to him as Drury was coming off back to back 65 point campaigns with the Buffalo Sabres.
In his first two years with the team Drury was average at best with 58 points in the first year and 56 in the second year.
I personally feel that the contract was simply too much for Drury. There is no way that he ever played like a $7.5 million man per season.
Comparably Brad Richards who made 7.5 million per season has averaged about 72 points per season which leads us into slide three.
Had Drury signed a deal with an annual cap hit around $ 3.5 to $4 million dollars per yer, many fans would have nothing to gripe about.
3) Rangers Need as Much Cap Space as Possible for Free Agents
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The Rangers have a plethora of players to resign for the 2011-12 season and beyond. Some of these players include Artem Anisimov, Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Brian Boyle, Michael Sauer and countless others.
Chris Drury's buyout allows the Rangers to allow their youngsters the salaries necessary to retain them. They are the future and need to be kept at all cost.
There isn't exactly a huge market for aging and brittle centers. I love Chris Drury but I'd prefer having Callahan, Dubinsky, and company for many years to come rather than Drury for an additional year.
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4) Drury Would Take Up Youngsters' Ice Time
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Former Buffalo Sabres stalwart defensemen Craig Rivet was the captain shortly after Drury's departure. When his game suffered and slowed, he became a consistent healthy scratch.
The New York Rangers and Glen Sather have too much respect for Chris Drury to do this. By buying him out, Drury would be given an opportunity to sign with another team.
Derek Stepan, Brian Boyle and Artem Anisimov are the current top three centers. The Rangers' goal is to acquire a number one center this offseason. Chris Drury then becomes the odd man out.
Even if the Rangers were to attempt and shift him to the wing, players in the system like Carl Hagelin, Chris Kreider, and Evegeny Grachev would eat up his potential ice time.
Drury has no place on the roster and could return to the Sabres or Avalanche.
For more information on potential landing spots for Drury, check out Kevin Goff's article.
5) Rangers Are Moving in a New Direction
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The Rangers have been building up a stock pile of prospects over the past few season. Some of these prospects include the Wolf Pack line of Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, and Ryan Callahan.
Others include Ryan McDonagh, Michael Sauer, Dylan McIlrath, Chris Kreider, Christian Thomas, Carl Hagelin, Oscar Lindberg, and many others.
This youth oriented movement includes phasing out those players over the age of 30. Thus far Chris Drury and Vinny Prospal were some of the odd men out.
Chris Drury doesn't fit into this system and the youngsters are going to be the future of this franchise.
Salary Cap Post Chris Drury
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This is how the books will look for Glen Sather and the New York Rangers in a post Drury salary cap.
Salary Cap Space: $21,745 ,833 million (Not Inflated for expected cap increase)
Free Agents
- Ryan Callahan (RFA)
- Brandon Dubinsky (RFA)
- Artem Anisimov (RFA)
- Brian Boyle (RFA)
- Michael Sauer (RFA)
- Chad Johnson (RFA)
- Vinny Prospal
- Bryan McCabe
- Ruslan Fedetenko
- Matt Gilroy (RFA)
Players Rangers will be interested in
- Brad Richards FA
- Brooks Laich FA
- Paul Stastny
- *Steven Stamkos RFA
- Stephen Weiss
- Simon Gagne FA
- Alex Tanguay
* Rangers would make offer sheet to Stamkos if Richards fall through. Rangers and Lightning were in agreement to make a trade involving Stamkos after he got off to a very slow start. While this is not very likely as per RFA guidelines, team can tender and match given offer. This is a last resort ditch effort to force Tampa to pay top dollar.
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