Blog Archives
The Stepan Situation May Reach Arbiration, and Kevin Hayes is a big reason why
Tim Christian
Almost everyone is saying that the Rangers will come to terms with RFA Derek Stepan before the arbitration date. But will they? There are a lot of factors that say otherwise. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
As we near the date of Derek Stepan’s arbitration hearing, there seems to be much talk centered around “How Much” and for “How Long”, with many folks feeling the Rangers & Stepan will come to a long-term agreement just under the wire.
Indeed, this has generally been the case with the Rangers. The Rangers last allowed a player to reach an arbitration hearing in 2009. Nikolai Zherdev was the player, and the Rangers chose to not pay him the $3.9 million award. Instead, they let him walk.
While I certainly don’t think Stepan will be allowed to walk, I do think the Rangers may let arbitration run its course and pay him for 1 or 2 years. I say this because of:
– Kevin Hayes
– The Rangers’ highly paid Defense
– The Rangers’ highly paid Goaltender
– The Salary Cap Read the rest of this entry
Should the Rangers take the plunge and sign Alexander Semin?
Bobby Bevilacqua
Alexander Semin is still a free agent, and his offensive prowess could benefit the Rangers lineup. Should they sign him? Photo courtesy of Marc DesRosiers/USA TODAY Sports.
Although it’s July 19th, there are still some surprisingly good players left on the market as free agents. Eric Fehr, longtime Capitals, is still without a team. Brad Boyes is still a free agent after being bought out by the Panthers. James Sheppard is also unsigned.
But the most controversial free agent on the market is Alexander Semin, the former standout with the Capitals who was recently bought out of his contract by the Carolina Hurricanes. He was making $7 million this past season, and wound up being a healthy scratch at times, registering only 19 points in 57 games.
Semin has gotten criticism around the league for being a locker room cancer, and not the type of player that you want on a championship caliber team. But are those criticisms warranted? Read the rest of this entry
Gorton’s salary cap management leaves much needed wiggle room
Bobby Bevilacqua
Jeff Gorton should be applauded for his handling of the Rangers’ RFAs this offseason, but he still has some big decisions ahead. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Jeff Gorton and the Rangers have been very busy this week, signing almost all of their restricted free agents to new deals, and leaving valuable cap space open for the future. Gorton signed or re-signed Dylan McIlrath (article HERE), Magnus Hellberg (article HERE), JT Miller and Jesper Fast (article HERE), and Oscar Lindberg and Emerson Etem (article HERE).
What’s even better is that all of the players signed below what was their expected value. Oscar Lindberg, Emerson Etem, Jesper Fast and JT Miller signed for a combined cap hit of just $3.325 million. Now that’s great asset management.
If all of the listed cap hits are right, the Rangers have about $6.925 million left in free space. But that number, believe it or not, is realistically a bit higher. Also assuming that Dylan McIlrath ($600k) doesn’t make the team, and that Jayson Megna ($600k) is an AHL depth player, which is very likely, you can bump the Rangers available cap space to around $8.125 million. That’s a lot more than anyone thought the Rangers would have at this point. Read the rest of this entry
Derek Stepan’s arbitration hearing set for July 27th
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The last news in the Derek Stepan saga has been released, with his arbitration hearing now officially set for July 27th.
This is how it works. Stepan and his agent will say what they think is a fair price, and Jeff Gorton and the Rangers will counter with an offer of their own. Both sides will present why they think their price is fair, and an independent arbitrator will decide what his contract will be. The deals are usually one to two years in length.
If Stepan winds up going to arbitration, it isn’t ideal for the Rangers, but there are some positives. I’d be extremely surprised if the arbitrator granted Stepan a deal worth more than $6.5 million per year. That means that the Rangers could fit him under the cap for the one or two year deal that is allotted. Read the rest of this entry
O’Reilly gets massive extension with Sabres, what this means for Stepan’s future
Bobby Bevilacqua
Ryan O’Reilly received a massive contract extension after being traded to the Buffalo Sabres, a contract that could wind up driving Derek Stepan’s price through the roof. Photo courtesy of Doug Pensinger/Getty Images.
When the season ended for the Rangers, and bloggers and beat writers began speculating, the general consensus was that Derek Stepan, an RFA, would command $6 million a year for a long term deal. Personally, I thought that even that was a bit too much money for Stepan, but it seemed like he would be able to get that much. And then the Buffalo Sabres came along.
The Sabres made a draft day trade for 24 year old Ryan O’Reilly in order to be their number one center, and take pressure off of Jack Eichel, and create a strong top line of Evander Kane, O’Reilly and Tyler Ennis. They then proceeded to sign him to a massive seven year, $52.5 million deal that would pay him an average of $7.5 million a year.
Now I know that the Sabres don’t have anyone of O’Reilly’s caliber at the center position, but that’s no excuse to overpay him like that. For a player that has broken 20 goals and 60 points once, that is a ridiculous amount of money. O’Reilly will be making the same amount of money as Pavel Datsyuk, Steven Stamkos and Jason Spezza, and he will be making more than guys like Patrice Bergeron, Anze Kopitar, Tyler Seguin and John Tavares after this season. For 2015-16 his cap hit will be $6 million, and the new contract will kick in for the following year. Read the rest of this entry
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