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New York Rangers: Derek Stepan Must be Paid

By Anthony Russo

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Just a few days ago, Larry Brooks, who is a New York Post writer that contributes to the New York Rangers, wrote a piece comparing Ryan O’Reilly’s contract to what Derek Stepan might receive. Ever since then there has been concern and speculation to Stepan’s market value. In summarizing Brook’s article, Brooks stated that any hope the Rangers had at retaining Stepan on a long term deal in between $6.2 million and $6.5 million is probably out of the question.

To make matters more challenging for Rangers gm Jeff Gorton, Stepan has more career points in less career games than O’Reilly. However, the Rangers might be able to get Stepan signed long term at a cheaper salary than O’Reilly. As teams that have had bad consecutive seasons in the standings, tend to overpay for players. In this case it’s the Buffalo Sabres, who have been at the bottom of the standings and the Rangers, who have been a win now team for a few years.

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Also all of the rumors on Stepan is just speculation, even though Brooks wrote a piece on comparing Stepan’s situation to O’Reilly’s, there’s nothing like a hard negotiating tactic from Jeff Gorton that could work.

Regardless of how much Stepan ends up receiving or wants, Stepan will and should get paid the “big bucks” on a long term deal. And there should be no tough decision to face for the Rangers, as he has proven that he is one of their leaders and a big game clutch performer.

As Brooks stated in his article that the Rangers face a costly decision with Stepan, the decision should be blatantly obvious for the Rangers. The Rangers have just under $11 million dollars worth of cap space and Stepan should get near 75% of it.  Stepan is a first line center with no holes in his two way game besides faceoffs. So just because Stepan isn’t the greatest faceoff taker in the NHL and had a bit of a down year for his possession stats, the Rangers should trade his excellent two way game and his solid offensive production else where?

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    • First line centers like Stepan, don’t grow on trees. Trading Derek Stepan would be the most ludicrous move the Rangers have made in decades. If the Rangers continue to emphasize that they are a “win now team” with the cap space they currently have, resigning Stepan is an absolute no brainier.

    Expect things between Stepan and the Rangers to heat up near the end of July, because arbitration hearings are held in Toronto from July 20th to August 4th 2015.  One thing is to not expect an imminent agreement between the Rangers and Stepan, as it probably will take tough negotiations, but Stepan being traded should not be an option.

    It’s time for the Rangers to commit to Derek Stepan at a long term steep price, Stepan has proven he is a big game performer and arguably the best 2 way forward the Rangers have. As for Jeff Gorton this will be his first challenge, but it should be an easy decision to retain Stepan on a long term deal.

    Next: Entertaining Thoughts Of Trading Kevin Klein?

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