It’s easy to criticize the New York Rangers brain trust for the bad planning that led to their current cap situation. Looking at the facts, it actually makes sense to give Gorton and Company the benefit of the doubt and blame it all on bad timing.
Before the Shattenkirk buyout, the Rangers were $4,156,466 over the salary cap upper limit of $81.5 million. They arrived at that number after signing restricted free agents Pavel Buchnevich to a two-year bridge deal worth $3.25 million and Jacob Trouba to a seven-year deal worth $8 million annually.