I will get to my view of how the Rangers performed at the Traverse City Tournament by way of answering the 10 questions I posed in my prior blog. However, that will wait a day given some additional information that came out today related to Marc Staal's negotiation with the Rangers. None of this - both years and dollars - should come as a surprise, but below is the information.
Larry Brooks reported the following today:
Staal, who will turn 28 in January, is believed to be seeking a six- or seven-year deal in the neighborhood of $6 million per — perhaps somewhat more. The Rangers are believed to be offering the same deal to which they signed Dan Girardi, six years at $5.5 million per — perhaps somewhat less.
I wrote on July 31 (http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=61594)
If Girardi is worth $5.5 million per, it's kind of hard to argue that Staal is not as or more valuable
I augmented that with the following:
With the cap rising and since Staal has a $3.975 cap hit and $5.45 million salary this year, my view is that a rise of $2 million per year in the cap hit can be met, even while factoring in the other contracts needed to be doled or already doled out.
The good news is that progress has been made. The bad news is that a lot more work needs to be done and a substantive gap exists. There is still plenty of time for a deal to get done, but as we saw last year, the speculation and rumor mill will escalate as the March 2 trade deadline approaches and no accord is reached. As we saw last year with Ryan Callahan, GM Glen Sather is not above moving a pending UFA to avoid losing him for nothing.
Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers reached a seven-year, $59.5 million contract agreement in December 2013 with little rancor and disagreement. Girardi reportedly originally wanted six or seven years at $5.4 million. It was then reported about a month later that the Rangers had two offers on the table - one for six-years at $5.2 million per season and the other for five-years worth $5.7 million per season. Despite all the consternation and concern, ultimately, the two sides agreed to the deal for six years and $33 million. Callahan and NY went through a fairly public discord as to his worth, and even when it looked like a deal was done, Sather moved him to TB for Martin St. Louis.
Staal has been a career Ranger. He has come back from two severe injuries (eye and a pair of concussions) that have robbed him somewhat of his talent and potential, but he has settled in nicely to a second pairing d-man role. While the dollars and years seem high, Brooks put it best and this is why, as I wrote in July, the Rangers should lock him. Letting him go, despite the presence of Brady Skjei, would be a big mistake and have a material impact on the NY blue line.
If Staal remains healthy and hits the open market on July 1, there is little doubt he would be able get his asking price. He would become the best available unrestricted free agent defenseman in years.
March 2 is not that far away. Get Staal signed, then turn your attention to Mats Zuccarello, Derek Stepan and Carl Hagelin.