[Zurvan]

Maybe their cap situation is better than I thought. I don't know it in detail. It just seems to me that a young team trying to build shouldn't be throwing around max contracts.

A guy like Chara is a great addition to any team, obviously. But signing the big name free agents to massive contracts is what got them in trouble before. All teams should be cautious about it, not just the Rangers.

Where is Philly in two years if Forsberg is playing 25 games a year? How about Modano's 5 year contract in Dallas? Looks great now, but might not when he's 38.

My point is, a big contract like this can handicap a team for years. Dallas & Philly might be able to get away with it because they're close to a Cup winning team. This might push them over the top, and then who cares about their cap? They rebuild, and go again in a few years. The Rangers could put themselves in a situation where due to cap restrictions they cannot improve their team when they need to.

Is there really on $4M of Jagr's contract under NYR's cap? That's a great deal if so.