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Brandon Dubinsky – What Is Sather Waiting For? |
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This off-season has been dominated by talk of who the Rangers should or should not tender offer sheets, sign as free agents, trade for/away and salary cap room. Early on, the status of Brandon Dubinsky dominated most of the conversations, but lately, you hear very little about signing him long term as other matters have dominated the Rangers landscape. What are the possible reasons behind this and how does that play into the roster construction?
Dubinsky, coming off his Entry Level deal does not have arbitration rights, which is unlike the situation that existed with Ryan Callahan. Dubi received a qualifier of $698,500, and under the terms of receiving that qualifier, the Rangers do not need to negotiate. The issue by not negotiating and re-signing him to a longer term is the potential that another team, especially one close to the floor, could offer him substantially more money to sign putting the Rangers in a bind. That type of offer would force the team to choose between keeping Dubi, who is likely slated to be your top line center, forcing Sather to move someone else, or allowing Dubi to walk and taking the associated picks. Dubi is a key member of the Rangers, projected by many to possibly be the future captain, but there are some questions as to the real feeling of management towards him.
When all the trade talk surrounding Dany Heatley broke, the name that was originally heard as being untouchable was Dubinsky. Then as the roster construction for this year and beyond began and the Heater situation dragged on, Callahan appeared to be untouchable while Dubinsky was rumored to potentially be in play. Then as the market for top line centers dried up – unless you believe the Rangers can and will get Patrick Sharp - Dubinsky’s status with the Rangers rose again. In terms of the roster and re-signing Dubinsky long term, as has been mentioned by others in the comments to my prior blog, including blueblooded222, the Rangers may be waiting to see what happens in arbitration with Nikolai Zherdev before deciding what to do with Dubi. If Zherdev gets a reasonable figure in arbitration, as opposed what others seem to believe, my view is that the team will likely keep him. As mentioned in my July 6 blog on arbitration, one of the factors that can be used in the arb process is that salaries and performance can be compared to other players, but not an unrestricted free agent who signed a contract. Given the average of the deals that Travis Zajac and Ryan Clowe signed for, one could say that Zherdev is closer to Clowe than Zajac, so a figure around $3.5 million seems reasonable. If that happens, the Rangers will likely keep him, putting the heat on what to do with Dubi.
To keep Dubi at that contract after what you rewarded Callahan with – two years, $4.6 million, would seem to be unfair, but that may be the reality in this cap world we live in. The likelihood is if the team keeps Zherdev, it will be forced to move someone, like Michal Roszival, to free up cash top sign Dubi for at least two years. If the Rangers stay status quo, and for some reason lost Dubi, how confident are you with Drury as our top center and possibly Anisimov or Grachev as your number two? Would you be willing to lose Dubi if it brings a few top picks? Do we walk away from Zherdev and possibly lose Kovalev-lite, a player with massive talent but focus and desire questions? In a perfect or even imperfect world, what should be the Rangers’ next move in terms of Dubinsky and Zherdev as we sit a week away from Nik’s July 31 arb hearing? The decision from that hearing will likely change the course of the team for this year and possibly for the future. A bad move could seal Sather’s fate in the eyes of the team’s fans and maybe management; though we all know the Dubi situation should have been resolved ages ago, while a good one could buy him some additional capital from the Blueshirt faithful.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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