Rangers re-sign Eminger to one-year deal

The Rangers re-signed defenseman Steve Eminger to a one-year, $800,000 contract Monday, putting yet another of the final pieces of their 2011-12 roster puzzle into place.

Eminger, 27, came to the Rangers in a trade with the Ducks last offseason and provided steady play as a third-pair defenseman in 65 games. The Rangers were his sixth NHL club in four seasons, but coach John Tortorella liked the way Eminger fit into a young defense.

As it's currently constituted, that defensive corps might be even younger should Tim Erixon, 20, acquired from the Flames in June, make the squad. Eminger would be the oldest of the projected regulars.

The Rangers will continue to try to wrap up their top priority, which is a long-term contract for Ryan Callahan. Callahan's arbitration hearing is set for Thursday. His agent, Steve Bartlett, said in an email that contract negotiations are ongoing.

With Eminger's signing, the Rangers are roughly $5 million under next season's salary cap. If the Rangers and Callahan come to terms, as the team did with Brandon Dubinsky on the day of his arbitration hearing last week, figure that Callahan will command a salary with a yearly cap hit of about $4.5 million.

Once he's signed, the Rangers have 48 hours to decide whether to buy any of their other players out. The most likely candidate is Wojtek Wolski, who could be bought out for one-third of his $3.8-million salary. At the moment, the team reportedly has not decided anything about further buyouts and might go into training camp with a few extra forwards.

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