Hockey Kevin Shattenkirk’s Boyhood Dream Ends in Buy-Out by Anthony Paradiso August 3, 2019 Kevin Shattenkirk dreamed that one day he would play for the New York Rangers as a kid growing up in New Rochelle, New York. Sadly, Shattenkirk’s dream has been cut short. The Rangers front office decided the best thing they could do to get under the National Hockey League (NHL) Salary-Cap of $81.5 million that they exceeded by $4.1 mil, was to buy-out the last two years of the four-year $26 million contract Kevin Shattenkirk signed in 2017. Most importantly, General Manager Jeff Gorton had to skim off some salary froth this offseason and buying out Shattenkirk was made more necessary by the signing of free agents Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba to long-term deals. Shattenkirk tore his meniscus two years ago, which hurt his game significantly. Back in 2015, Shattenkirk was an All-Star for the St. Louis Blues and competed in the fastest-skater competition. Nevertheless, Shattenkirk was brought to the Rangers to excel playing on the man-advantage. In 2017-18, Shattenkirk scored 13 points on the power-play in 46 games. In 73 games last season, Shattenkirk only scored seven points on the man-advantage. Also, the Rangers traded for right-handed defenseman Adam Fox. Larry Brooks of The New York Post said that Shattenkirk “would lose his power-play time to Trouba and Fox.” Fox has only proven he can play in college so it is a stretch for Brooks to say he is going to play on next year’s Rangers power-play. Following Shattenkirk’s buy-out, the Rangers have one defenseman over 30 years-old; Alternate captain Marc Staal. During training camp, head coach David Quinn will be evaluating whether Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, and Yegor Rykov can earn a roster spot. The two youngest defensemen the Rangers have on their roster are 20-year-old Libor Hajek and 21-year-old Adam Fox. While Hajek has only played seven NHL games, Larry Brooks has said he can start on the Rangers’ third defensive-pairing with Fox. In a press release, Rangers Team President John Davidson reflected what the Rangers’ organization thinks about Kevin Shattenkirk. “Today’s decision was a very difficult one,” Davidson said, “Kevin is a great person and teammate and he was extremely proud to be a New York Ranger. We wish him and his family the best going forward.” Shattenkirk is still a capable NHL defenseman, who should find a spot on a NHL team. The Philadelphia Flyers could come knocking at his door. That is where his former teammate Kevin Hayes just signed a seven-year, $50 million deal and former coach Alain Vigneault is now the head coach. Post Views: 986 The following two tabs change content below.BioLatest Posts Anthony Paradiso Anthony has been a sportswriter at In The Zone since Sept. 2019. He graduated from Montclair State, where he was assistant Editor of the student newspaper's sports section. He also co-hosts a sports-themed radio show on the campus station, WMSC 90.3 FM, which was recently named #1 college radio station in the nation. Latest posts by Anthony Paradiso (see all) How the You Know I’m Right Podcast Reached 100 Episodes - April 26, 2021 Lochte, Dressel and Ledecky all Chasing Gold at 2021 Tokyo Olympics - April 18, 2021 Amazon Prime Video gains rights to Stream 21 New York Yankees Games - March 28, 2021 How Former NFL Scout and Coach Chris Landry Became an Entrepreneur and Sportscaster - March 23, 2021 Related TopicsAdam FoxDavid QuinnJohn DavidsonKevin ShattenkirkMarc StaalNew York Rangers Click to comment You must be logged in to post a comment Login Leave a Reply Cancel replyYou must be logged in to post a comment. Newsletter Subscription Can't Miss Posts! Women in Sports: NHL Network Host, Jackie Redmond by Nicholas Durst | posted on March 4, 2019 Lochte, Dressel and Ledecky all Chasing Gold at 2021 Tokyo Olympics by Anthony Paradiso | posted on April 18, 2021 You Know I’m Right, Episode 109: The Athletic’s Marc Carig (Audio/Video) by Nicholas Durst | posted on April 19, 2021 You Know I’m Right, Episode 112: New York Jets’ Insider Brian Costello (Audio/Video) by Nicholas Durst | posted on April 27, 2021 Whoop Rewards Employees With $100 Each Month To Sleep by Inesh Chari | posted on March 22, 2021 More in Hockey Tim Peel is Discharged After Caught on Hot Mic Tim Peel was Discharged from the NHL After He was Caught on the Hot... NHL, Amazon Web Services Partner to Develop New Stats, Data, and Insights The National Hockey League (NHL) is partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) in an... You Know I’m Right, Episode 81: ESPN’s Arda Ocal (Audio/Video) On the 81st episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 80: MSG Network’s Bill Pidto (Audio/Video) On the 80th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... Rangers Front Office Faces Salary Cap Conundrum Who should be the Flyers’ number one priority?