Vincent Z. Mercogliano | NHL writer

Forced to act as they claw their way toward cap compliance, the New York Rangers made their biggest salary-shedding move of the offseason Wednesday by buying out the contract of Kevin Shattenkirk. The buyout was first reported by the New York Post and confirmed to USA TODAY by Shattenkirk's agent, Jordan Neumann.

The 30-year-old defenseman from New Rochelle had two years remaining on his deal at an average annual value of $6.65 million.

The buyout will save the Rangers $5,166,667 this season, according to CapFriendly.com, with the remaining $1,483,833 still counting against their salary cap. The cap hit will escalate to more than $6 million for the 2020-21 season, with only $566,667 in savings.

The Rangers will also absorb $1,433,333 in dead cap space for both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

It’s the price they had to pay after shelling out a total of $137.5 million to lock up star forward Artemi Panarin and defenseman Jacob Trouba this offseason. Those two alone will account for more than $19.6 million per season — or roughly 24% of the Rangers’ salary cap space.

Those deals left the Rangers short on cash for their remaining restricted free agents. Forward Pavel Buchnevich agreed to a two-year, $6.5 million deal Friday, while forward Brendan Lemieux and defenseman Tony DeAngelo remain unsigned.

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It was the Buchnevich signing which triggered the 48-hour buyout window the Rangers used to cut ties with Shattenkirk. There was last-minute confusion Wednesday evening about when the buyout window would actually open, but regardless, it's Shattenkirk who fell victim.

“Today’s decision was a very difficult one,” team president John Davidson said in Thursday's press release. “Kevin is a great person and teammate and he was extremely proud to be a New York Ranger. We wish him and his family all the best going forward.”

The more than $5.1 million in savings the buyout will yield this season moves the team's projected salary cap back under the $81.5 million limit. They can save an additional $1.075 million apiece if they elect to send under-performing veterans Matt Beleskey and Brendan Smith to the minors, but replacing them on the roster would cut into those savings.

There won’t be much wiggle room left after they sign Lemieux and DeAngelo, who are expected to sign for close to $1 million apiece, so another minor move could be coming. But the Shattenkirk buyout will likely spare the Rangers from being forced to move a useful forward like Chris Kreider, who has been rumored as trade bait all offseason. Now general manager Jeff Gorton can feasibly hold onto the Rangers' second-leading scorer from last season, or wait to trade him at a point when he'll have more leverage (perhaps near the midseason trade deadline).

While the buyout creates significant relief this season, the penalty of more than $6 million for 2020-21 will sting. The Rangers considered buying out Smith instead of Shattenkirk because his year-two cap hit would have been nearly $3 million less, but in the end, they opted for the immediate savings that came from the Shattenkirk buyout.

The move ends a disappointing tenure in New York for Shattenkirk. Just two years ago, he was a coveted free agent who was lured to play in his home state with a four-year, $26.6 million contract. He was expected to lead the Rangers’ defense and improve their power play, but injuries and diminished performance pushed him out of favor.

Shattenkirk played in just 46 games in 2017-18, and while he did suit up for 73 games last season, he managed only 28 points (two goals and 26 assists) and posted a plus/minus rating of -15.