I doubt the Rangers waive anything of value... maybe some AHL depth guys like a Fogarty.
Brendan Smith could get waived and wind up in the AHL, but I think it’s more likely he’s 13th forward / 7th D. He can play two roles and AHL doesn’t bury enough $$$.
Smith will be buried IMO and not returning unless there is injury.
He would be cut except it is cheaper cap wise to bury.
If he were put on waivers and claimed, most of his salary/cap hit is still paid by Rangers, right? Waiver cost is paltry, correct?
If the dif is negligible, and NY is not immediately concerned about the 50 man headcount limit, it doesn't make sense for NY to waive BS in a vacuum.
We'd like to pay a reasonably priced bribe and eat the max half, reducing him from 4.35 to 2.1775 per x 2. He can then be flipped again one more time at half retention which is somewhere around 1.8+.
A team that needs cap help now could take that 1.8ish for 2+ in cap hit for a reasonable surrender of futures.
An illustration prior to LV dealing with its cap crunch would have been Smith at half for Holden 2.2 + Merrill 1.375 both full pop expiring. NY would have saved 4.3+ - 3.5+ = a .8 dif on top of the half they were eating, But they would have cut the obligation 2 yrs to 1.
LVGK would be losing 3.5+ and taking on 2.17+ which is a shade under/around 1.4 dif saved. Vegas then could have found a suitor like OTT near the cap floor to take Smith at half for an inducement if nec.
Similar scenario for Namest.
I agree little of value waived by NY.