Derek Stepan’s arbitration pitch to Rangers: $7.25 million annually
Will Derek Stepan break the $7 million mark?
As we wrote previously, that’s the status-symbol annual average value for young NHL players getting new contracts. Twenty-eight players will make over $7 million against the cap next season. Ryan O’Reilly’s contract will pay him $7.5 million annually when it kicks in for 2016-17.
O’Reilly gets mentioned a lot when it comes to Stepan, although that contract isn’t usable in the New York Rangers center’s arbitration case. In fact, Stepan is asking for less than what O’Reilly received from the Buffalo Sabres: According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Stepan is asking for $7.25 mllion against the cap in his arbitration filing.
The Rangers? They’re asking for $5.2 million against the cap, which would still slot Stepan ahead of Derick Brassard ($5 million AAV) to make him the team’s second-highest paid forward behind Rick Nash ($7.8 million).
Obviously, this is a high ask and a lowball, and the final number in a negotiated contract could be somewhere in the middle, which would be in the $6.3 million range. Larry Brooks thinks the award in an arbitration hearing could be “between $5.75 million and $6.5 million, given the comparable to Stepan.”
From Brooks:
The Rangers have just about $7.35 million of available cap space for the upcoming season with a 22-player roster, including one extra forward and one extra defenseman.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, Stepan most likely would be able to command in excess of $7 million per on a seven-year deal if he does indeed hit the free-agent market in two years. The Rangers don’t have the space to accommodate that outlay, not with the squeeze for this year and with current third-line center Kevin Hayes eligible for arbitration following the season.
It’s a tough first challenge from GM Jeff Gorton, for sure.
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