Report: Rangers' Derek Stepan wants $7.25M
Derek Stepan is seeking $7.25 million in arbitration from the New York Rangers. (USATSI)
With Braden Holtby‘s contract now taken care of in Washington, the next big arbitration case will involve the New York Rangers and one of their top forwards, Derek Stepan.
Stepan’s hearing is scheduled to take place on Monday morning, and on Saturday Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that he is seeking $7.25 million from the Rangers. The team has countered with an asking price of $5.2 million, both of which would be a significant raise over the $3.075 million average annual salary his most recent contract carried.
The thing that often times gets forgotten about the asking prices going into arbitration is that the two sides are often times just trying to find a middle ground. In the end, Stepan probably knows he’s not going to get that much from the Rangers on a long-term deal, and the Rangers have to know they’re probably going to have to go higher than the $5.2 million mark they are going into arbitratin with. There is a middle ground to be had here and it’s probably going to result in Stepan coming away with a long-term deal somewhere in the $6 million per year range.
Keep in mind that when Holtby and the Capitals went into their hearing there was a $3 million gap between the two sides with Holtby asking for more than $8 million and the Capitals coming in at just over $5 million. Following their hearing the two sides agreed on a five-year deal with a little more than $6 million per season.
Stepan is coming off of a 2014-15 season with the Rangers that saw him score 16 goals to go with 39 assists in 68 games. He’s never going to be the type of No. 1 center that contends for a league scoring title, but a player that can play the type of all-around game that Stepan does while also averaging between 55 and 60 points per 82 games is an extremely valuable asset, one that is probably going to be very costly. Ryan O’Reilly, who offers a similar level of production but is also younger and might be an even better defensive player, recently signed a seven-year, $52.5 million contract with the Buffalo Sabres, a deal that carries a salary cap hit of $7.5 million per season.
The Rangers are currently $6.9 million below the $71.4 million salary cap for the 2014-15 season with 22 players under contract (via General Fanager). If this process gets to arbitration with the two sides unable to reach a deal, and Stepan gets his desired price, the Rangers would have to move a salary to make it work for this season. They’re also going to face an even bigger salary cap crunch next season when defenseman Keith Yandle becomes an unrestricted free agent, while Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes, J.T. Miller and Emerson Etem all become restricted free agents.
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