Derek Stepan relieved to have ‘life-changing’ deal from Rangers
Rangers center Derek Stepan spoke of New York general manager Jeff Gorton in glowing terms on a conference call Monday morning.
Then again, if you’re Stepan, wouldn’t you if the guy just gave you a six-year, $39 million contract? This is sort of a different day for the Rangers – the first major deal Gorton has officially given a player since he took over for Glen Sather earlier this summer. And it’s a contract that makes sense to the core group of the team.
“These things take a lot of time, and we’re talking really essentially for me a life-changing contract,” Stepan said. “We wanted to make sure both sides were happy with which direction the talks were going and then it came down to making sure we got the structure and get to where both sides were happy.”
The number and term made sense. The 25-year-old Stepan knew it. Gorton knew it. Negotiations sounded anything but contentious according to Stepan.
“Both sides kind of knew this is the number, this area was the number. And it’s the right number for me,” Stepan said.
He also thought it was the right number for the Rangers, lauding Gorton for “structuring his team the way he wants to.”
There are some bad contracts on this team. Defenseman Dan Girardi making $5.5 million through 2020 is just … yack.
According to General Fanager, New York has $425,875 of salary cap space. The team will probably have to give Chris Kreider a large bump from his $2.475 million per-year salary when he hits restricted free agency next offseason. Last season, Stepan, the Rangers’ first-line center, had 16 goals and 29 assists in 68 games played.
As to whether there was any ill will from the arbitration briefs where the Rangers asked for $5.2 million, and Stepan pushed for $7.25 million? Sometimes a player can get ticked at a low asking price.
“It’s one of those things where as you’re going through it, you have to find a number that makes sense, how you can justify each of your numbers,” Stepan said. “Both numbers were easily justified – their number and easily ours. For the most part, we asked high and they asked low.”
Come on, man? Some vitriol? Some anger? Nah, he just seemed generally happy – probably because it’s a good deal all the way around for everyone involved.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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