J.T. Miller's $8,000,000 cap hit gets fans nervous every summer, and honestly, it might be the least concerning deal on this roster.
Go through the New York Rangers' books and the pattern holds. Every big contract on this team still makes sense given where the cap is headed.
Miller and Mika Zibanejad are the two names fans worry about most, both 33 and both projected as the top two centers on a team trying to get back into the playoffs.
Zibanejad bounced back hard last season, posting 34 goals and 44 assists for 78 points in 81 games.
Miller's year looked rougher on paper. Injuries limited him to 68 games, and he finished with 17 goals and 36 assists for 53 points.
The real question isn't the money. It's how these two age over the next four years if New York never adds another true top-end center behind them.
Igor Shesterkin draws similar scrutiny, an $11,500,000 cap hit that's the richest goalie contract since Carey Price signed with Montreal at $10,500,000.
Could Connor McDavid actually land in New York?
That comparison makes some fans nervous given how the Henrik Lundqvist era ended without a championship built around him.
But Shesterkin isn't Lundqvist's situation. He's been elite since his 2019-20 debut, and paying the best goalie in the league is rarely the mistake it looks like on paper.
He posted a .911 save percentage in 51 games last season, exactly the kind of number that makes an eight year term feel justified rather than reckless.
With the cap climbing fast, this contract may end up looking like a bargain within a few years, once other goalies start passing his number for less production.
New York projects around $36,000,000 in cap space next offseason, real flexibility built through a retool that already shed its worst money.
Gabriel Perreault, Will Cuylle, Noah Laba, and Braden Schneider all need new deals soon, and Perreault should be the priority given how fast young extensions are climbing right now.
Perreault posted 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points in just 49 games as a 21-year-old, exactly the kind of production that invites an offer sheet if New York waits too long.
Then there's the name every Rangers fan is quietly tracking. Connor McDavid is in year one of a two year extension with Edmonton, and if things sour, unrestricted free agency opens up in two years.
McDavid posted 48 goals and 90 assists for 138 points in 82 games this season, a number that makes any front office with cap space start daydreaming.
New York would be an obvious suitor if that market ever opens, exactly the top center this roster has been chasing as Miller and Zibanejad get older.
Nothing about this roster screams reckless spending right now. Every dollar committed lines up with either current production or a realistic path to more.
That's a rare thing to say about a big market team that's always spent to the cap ceiling, and it's exactly why New York is positioned to make a real move if a star like McDavid ever hits the open market.
Would you want the Rangers to pursue Connor McDavid if he reaches free agency?
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