Marc Staal signs 5-year, cap-friendly $19.875 mil deal (update)

Marc Staal, the Rangers top defenseman, has agreed to a five-year deal worth just under $20 million, a signing that will trigger waivers or trades before the end of the month.

Staal, 23, has long said he wanted to return to the team that drafted him 12th overall in the 2005 draft, and Rangers president and general manager Glen Sather, who declared at the entry draft in June that there was a “chasm” between the two sides, later insisted that he would match any offer sheet presented by a rival club to the restricted free agent.

The 6-4, 210 pound defenseman from Thunder Bay, Ontario, earned $827,000 last season, the final one in his entry-level contract. He had eight goals and 19 points last year, his third full NHL season, and led the team in ice time at 23:07 and plus-minus (11). He was 12th in the league in hits among defensemen with 178, and was only one of four Rangers to play in all 82 games.

The $19.875 million deal, which includes a salary of $3.1 million this season, $3.675 million in 2011-12, $3.775 million in 2012-13, $3.875 million in 2013-14 and $5.45 million in 2014-15, for an average salary cap hit of $3.975 million, had been considered close to completion for more than a week. About 30 NHL defensemen have higher cap hits; the pact seems to favor the Rangers in that regard.

With Staal in the fold, the Rangers will need to shed about $5 million in salary from the summer cap, which allows teams to be 10 percent above the hard cap of $59.4 million until the end of this month. Veteran Wade Redden, whose game has slipped and has a cap hit of $6.5 million for the next four years, is clearly at risk

Dan Girardi, Staal’s partner on the blueline, signed a four-year deal earlier this summer. Along with Michael Del Zotto, 20, and Michal Rozsival, four of the club’s defensemen appear to be secure. Sophomore Matt Gilroy faces competition from rookies Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko, Steve Eminger and tryouts Garnet Exelby and Alexei Semenov.

Staal was leaving Thunder Bay today and I may catch him at the rink tomorrow, when we are scheduled to discuss Friday's opening of camp and the regular season with head coach John Tortorella, who has been watching the club's prospects play in Traverse City....