Eklund: Why Won't the Rangers Pay Derek Stepan? Is Ryan Murray Niedermeyer 2.0?

Eklund: Why Won't the Rangers Pay Derek Stepan? Is Ryan Murray Niedermeyer 2.0?
- Eklund

I heard he is HIV positive

Eklund: Why Won't the Rangers Pay Derek Stepan? Is Ryan Murray Niedermeyer 2.0?
- Eklund

Cause they are in a TIGHT fit.

WOW, kid plays 1 pre-season game and you're comparing him to neidermayer

A Kid who hasnt played a season in the NHL, sure lets call him 2.0 now, we have 2 weeks still to kill before puck drop

Will get to this in my blog and think I have covered this ad nauseum, ad infinitum already, but will touch on it here. Unsure I would qualify it as they WON'T pay Derek Stepan, it's that based on their currrent cap constraints, partially due to keeping Brad Richards, they don not have the cap room to give him the $5+ million he likely deserves. In addition, Sather has historically given bridge deals, with the one exception coming this year with Ryan McDonagh. As I have written, I think Stepan signs his bridge deal, likely between what Nazem Kadri got and the $3.5 mil per he wants and then signs a LT extension during the year kicking in next year when the cap is expected to rise.

Well it's good to know that anyone can put ridiculous expectations onto a prospect. Give the guy some time before we bury him with those kinds of comparisons.

Eklund: Why Won't the Rangers Pay Derek Stepan? Is Ryan Murray Niedermeyer 2.0?
- Eklund

"You could make an argument that the NHL's MVP from 1990-2010 was the NJ Devils Scott Niedermayer."

I don't know about that, Ek. To me he was one of the worst players in the league during that stretch.
I think it's pretty clear after one exhibition game that Murray is at least going to be as good as Niedermayer. You know what they say, exhibition games are the true measure of how good a player is. Especially if that player has only played one exhibition game. Most scouts I've talked to take the regular season and playoffs off and do almost all their work during exhibition games. They feel that's when you can get a true read on a player.

Well it's good to know that anyone can put ridiculous expectations onto a prospect. Give the guy some time before we bury him with those kinds of comparisons.
- FlareKnight

it's perfectly rational........i fully expect codi ceci to be lidstrom 2.0, and curtis lazaar will make mike bossy look like a peewee player.

Will get to this in my blog and think I have covered this ad nauseum, ad infinitum already, but will touch on it here. Unsure I would qualify it as they WON'T pay Derek Stepan, it's that based on their currrent cap constraints, partially due to keeping Brad Richards, they don not have the cap room to give him the $5+ million he likely deserves. In addition, Sather has historically given bridge deals, with the one exception coming this year with Ryan McDonagh. As I have written, I think Stepan signs his bridge deal, likely between what Nazem Kadri got and the $3.5 mil per he wants and then signs a LT extension during the year kicking in next year when the cap is expected to rise.
- airjan23

Good post. I think this is the most likely outcome.

Cautious optimism with Ryan Murray. That said, I hope he does well.

What happened to the blog about the teams that are failing and need to win now?

What happened to the new writers that are supposed to be writing for the Oil? We're lucky to get 4 blogs a week over there...

What happened to the new writers that are supposed to be writing for the Oil? We're lucky to get 4 blogs a week over there...
- BigDre

quality >>>>> quantity

4 good blogs a week are FAR better than the 12 poop ones that cloutier wrote on a weekly basis

No one has commented about Stepan yet lol

I think you need to see an optometrist EK

No one has commented about Stepan yet lol
- blizzzard

I positively did!

"You could make an argument that the NHL's MVP from 1990-2010 was the NJ Devils Scott Niedermayer."

I don't know about that, Ek. To me he was one of the worst players in the league during that stretch.
I think it's pretty clear after one exhibition game that Murray is at least going to be as good as Niedermayer. You know what they say, exhibition games are the true measure of how good a player is. Especially if that player has only played one exhibition game. Most scouts I've talked to take the regular season and playoffs off and do almost all their work during exhibition games. They feel that's when you can get a true read on a player.
- hankthetank

Came to see Ek get ripped apart for the whole Murray/Niedermayer thing, left satisfied

No one has commented about Stepan yet lol
- blizzzard

What does this mean?

What happened to the new writers that are supposed to be writing for the Oil? We're lucky to get 4 blogs a week over there...
- BigDre

3 times better than the 1 every other week we Ducks fans get.

One clip of the kid. Let's see him do it for 3 or 4 years, day in and day out and then we can anoint him the 2nd coming of Scotty.

quality >>>>> quantity

4 good blogs a week are FAR better than the 12 poop ones that cloutier wrote on a weekly basis
- sensarmy_11

I didn't have a problem with Clouts' blogs...after all, if i wanted credible hockey news I wouldn't come here for it.

3 times better than the 1 every other week we Ducks fans get.
- ducks31

umm 4 times better?

I'm jk, no one cares about the Ducks anyways

umm 4 times better?

I'm jk, no one cares about the Ducks anyways
- BigDre

That is an invalid statement as I care, so there is one.

Will get to this in my blog and think I have covered this ad nauseum, ad infinitum already, but will touch on it here. Unsure I would qualify it as they WON'T pay Derek Stepan, it's that based on their currrent cap constraints, partially due to keeping Brad Richards, they don not have the cap room to give him the $5+ million he likely deserves. In addition, Sather has historically given bridge deals, with the one exception coming this year with Ryan McDonagh. As I have written, I think Stepan signs his bridge deal, likely between what Nazem Kadri got and the $3.5 mil per he wants and then signs a LT extension during the year kicking in next year when the cap is expected to rise.
- airjan23

Everything Jan wrote here is true and are all valid reasons. Another easier reason is, the Rangers won't pay him because THEY DON'T HAVE TO. There is a process in the NHL called the Entry Draft. This is a system that the league pays for, provides, and gives, young players a chance to easily have access into the NHL. Others that don't want to use this, they are UFA's like Justin Shultz, Torey Krug, Martin St. Louis, Mike York, etc.... UFA's never signed their rights away because they didn't take advantage of the Draft (which makes it infinitely easier to enter the NHL system). Now I bring this up because, inherently, Stepan was scouted and drafted by the Rangers. They spent the time and money to scout him and get him into their system. This is one of the reasons why the CBA has laws that protect teams who draft their players and cultivate them and develop them into Pros. So when a club has the right to play hardball with a young budding star whom which they know will suck TENS of MILLIONS out of the club in the future, it is the team's given advantage during the years of RFA to leverage that right whenever they see fit. Stepan is not getting the $5M he deserves not because he doesn't produce like a player that should, but simply because the business side of the sport deems him Rangers property and no one else's. The business side of the sport deems him ineligible for arbitration because he is with his drafted team and he has only played for so long with his originally drafted team. So to sum it up again, they aren't paying him because they don't have to. Its one of the few times EVER, a team can get a discount on a high producing player and they are taking the discount.