Rangers Acquire Todd White

Glen Sather was burning the midnight oil last night, as he acquired center Todd White from the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for disgruntled enforcer Donald Brashear and perennial AHLer Patrick Rissmiller. Rissmiller, at a $1 million cap hit, was headed to Hartford for a third straight year, while Brashear’s $1.4 million cap hit was going to stay on the books for the Rangers, regardless of where Brashear played 35+ contract). White has one year remaining at a $2.375 cap hit.

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what the Rangers gain from this trade, unless there is another one coming. Yes, the Rangers got something decent for absolutely nothing. But, the Rangers take on a larger cap hit from this trade, an extra $900,000 (Rissmiller is not included in this math since he was always destined for Hartford), for another forward. I understand that White had a few good seasons when playing with Ilya Kovalchuk, and maybe the Rangers are hoping White can regain that form playing with Marian Gaborik. What this does do though, is take a roster spot away from a youngster, possibly Dale Weise, or maybe even Mats Zuccarello-Aasen. I’m on the fence about it, it’s not a bad trade, but it’s puzzling. After some thought, the team is definitely better now than it was before the trade. White means that Brian Boyle might be Hartford bound, with Dale Weise and Derek Boogaard rotating as the 13th forward. The Rangers also lose two huge cancers in the Hartford locker room. The deal is another solid trade. It’s amazing how Sather pulls these off.

The Thrashers, meanwhile, have placed Brashear on waivers with the intention of buying him out, which will save them money, but not cap space, which they have plenty of anyway.

Brashear, Voros, Rissmiller Waived

Several Twitter posts have said the Rangers waived Donald Brashear, Aaron Voros, and Patrick Rissmiller. There are rumors of them being bought out, but the only one that makes sense to buyout from a salary cap perspective would be Voros. Rissmiller hasn’t been with the team since he signed his contract, and a buyout would just add an unnecessary cap hit. A Brashear buyout won’t save any money, as he is on an over-35 contract. A Voros buyout would result in a $400,000 cap hit this season ($600,000 savings), and a $300,000 cap hit next season, when Voros would be off the books.

I do not believe these players were waived for potential buyouts, but waived to create cap room. Waiving Brashear saves the Rangers $100,000, and Voros saves the Rangers $1 million. Waiving Rissmiller is a technicality, as his salary has never counted against the Rangers cap hit. That’s $1.1 million saved by waiving them. It’s a simple matter of clearing cap space, much like what the Rangers did at the trade deadline.

Rissmiller, Arnason Waived

According to TSN, the Rangers have placed forwards Patrick Rissmiller and Tyler Arnason on waivers today. If they go unclaimed, they will be sent to Hartford. This was expected, as they were a part of the initial roster cut, but were sticking around due to waiver issues.

Both have one-way contracts, so they will make their respective salaries ($1 million for Rissmiller and $700k for Arnason) while playing for the Wolfpack this year. Remember, one-way and two-way contracts have no bearing on waiver eligibility. Because both Rissmiller and Arnason would have to pass through waivers to get back to the Rangers, it is unlikely that they will see the Rangers this year. That’s just my two cents though.