Much of the focus following Washington's signing of John Carlson to a six-year, $23.8 million deal has been on the Rangers need to sign MDZ. While I agree with that to a certain extent, the bigger key is to lock up Ryan McDonagh long-term.

We all know MDZ is an RFA and the two sides are probably at least a million a year apart in terms of his expected (MDZ) and perceived (Rangers) value. I understand the Rangers only wanting to sign him to a deal worth $2-2.5 million per for three years, but given what types of signing have been on-going, including Carlson, his value to the Rangers - especially on PP - and potential upside, we all agree that a four-year worth $13-14 million would seem to be equitable and might be good value for the Rangers. I said that fully cognizant of the rumored PK Subban, three-year, $12 million possible deal with the Canadiens, but he is a bit more physical than MDZ while also having major offensive upside, so an average of four million per rather than the three or three-and-a-half I advocate for MDZ, despite' Subban's flaws, in my opinion makes sense.

The more critical signing, especially with the looming lockout and expected reduction in the allowable length of deals when/if a new agreement gets signed, is McDonagh. He took a major step forward last year, vaulting himself into possible future Norris Trophy consideration. We all believe that he is barely scratching the surface of how good he can be as he projects to truly be a two-way stalwart for many years to come, with the offense growing as he matures. McDonagh is making $1.3 million this year and is an RFA next season. In the past, the Rangers haven't been great in signing players to extensions before their deals expire, with one notable exception being Henrik Lundqvist. This is one case where if team policy is not to do so, it needs to be changed and that policy ripped up as McDonagh is a major asset that needs to be locked up long-term.

We all believe that McDonagh has the possible ability to morph into Shea Weber, and at worse, be Ryan Suter. Given the deals each signed, one to stay in Nashville and one to go to Minnesota, GM Glen Sather needs to act now and avoid Mac Truck hitting any sort of free agency. Based on what the two aforementioned players got, as well as Drew Doughty (7 mil per) and Tyler Myers (5.5 mil per), Sather should offer McDonagh a six-year, $33 million deal. In my opinion, he is not at the Doughty, Weber, Suter level, but could get close to that at a minimum down the road. He is on par with Myers - better defensively right now but maybe not as good offensively - and think he is at minimum better defensively than Carlson and likely equal to and possible projects to gain more offense than him. For those reasons, a deal averaging $5.5 million seems to make sense, especially what he could be worth down the road as he matures and improves.

Sather, before 12:01 AM Sunday morning hits and the lockout or new deal kicks in, sign Mac Truck long-term now.

Join the Discussion: » 133 Comments » Post New Comment

» Game 1: Rangers hold serve at home 4-1 over Caps behind the fourth line

» 2024 Series Overview and Preview - Round 1 - Rangers-Capitals

» Rangers-Capitals: Reading the Numbers, Looking for an Advantage

» Rangers-Capitals meet again, though for first time since 2015, in playoffs

» Rangers check all the boxes in 4-0 win over the Senators