New York Rangers: The team should avoid bridge deals this summer
The New York Rangers have several players eligible for restricted free agency this summer. The team should avoid short term bridge deals for the sake of the salary cap.
The modern National Hockey League is a difficult enterprise in which to field a competitive team. For some organizations like the Buffalo Sabres or the Vancouver Canucks, the rebuilding process never ends. Fortunately, the Rangers have not had an extended period of failure like those organizations since prior to the 2004-2005 lockout season.
One of the results of that lockout was the institution of a salary cap and the entry level contract. The impacts of these instruments was two fold, it artificially depressed player wages and made the pay raise for some players absurd. Organizations can offer players under the age of 24 an entry level contract for a maximum of $925,000. In addition, this first contract is a two way deal. An organization can move a player on a two way contract to the American Hockey League without the player having to clear waivers.
Lastly, a player cannot go from restricted free agent to an unrestricted free agent until they meet certain qualifications. Generally, an unrestricted free agent is a player that have reached age 27 with at least seven seasons of NHL experience. For example, New York Islanders center John Tavares is reaching UFA status for the first time because he just turned 27 years old. So, even though Tavares had ten years of NHL service, he had to meet the age limit.
So, for a deeper understanding of how restricted free agency works, and what the Rangers should do, follow along below.
Restricted free agency rules
So, you have finished your three year entry contract, now what? Well, first things first, your organization must offer you a “qualifying offer,” to be a restricted free agent. A qualifying offer is a one year contract at the same number or a slight raise from a previous season. So, if a team does not present a player an offer sheet, they are an unrestricted free agent. However, this rarely happens as a team is losing control of a player for nothing.
A franchise still technically holds a player’s rights if they are an RFA. Other teams cannot make restricted free agents any type of contract offer with a single exception. Arguably the rarest situation in hockey, the lingering threat of an offer sheet is always a threat. The Calgary Flames were the last team to use the offer sheet back in 2013 on then Colorado Avalanche center Ryan O’Reilly. The Avalanche matched the Flames offer sheet and maintained control of their player.
However, if a team wants to simply throw a monkey wrench into negotiations, the offer sheet can be a genuine weapon. The reason the tactic is rarely used is due to its exorbitant cost. For example, if a team offers a player an offer sheet for more than $5.88 million, they owe the player’s original team a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick. That is an awful lot of assets for just one player.
The “bridge deal”
The bridge between the last restricted free agent deal and unrestricted free agency is called a bridge deal. These type of contracts are typically a one or two year contract at a healthy raise. In recent memory, the Rangers signed center Derek Stepan to a two year $3.075 per season deal. This was more than a two million dollar per season raise for the University Wisconsin alumni.
This was a logical move at the time because it kept Stepan under team control at a reasonable price. The problem for New York arose when the center continued his development and got better. Since Stepan improved as a player on his bridge deal, his earning power more than doubled. So, the Rangers essentially robbed Peter to pay Paul.
Instead of ironing out a reasonable long term deal while he was still a restricted free agent, the Rangers took the penny smart dollar stupid path. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to say this was a bad situation for a bridge deal. For other organizations, they gambled on players who were still restricted free agents and reaped the rewards.
The Nashville Predators have made it commonplace to invest long term in players while still restricted free agents. Viktor Arvidsson, Calle Jarnkrok, Roman Josi, and Mattias Ekhom, are all players on team friendly long term deals.
The Rangers summer
As of the moment, New York has seven restricted free agents. Of these seven, two are worth taking the long term gamble on right now. Both Kevin Hayes and Brady Skjei are worth the long term investment right now. With both players coming off of their respective ELCs, they will get huge pay jumps. In addition, both Hayes and Skjei fit the team’s vision going forward. That is why it would make a lot of sense to pony up four or five year deals to both right now. If New York rips of the Nashville model, it will keep more cap space free down the line.
The conundrum for the Rangers is with the lesser known quantities. Jimmy Vesey, Ryan Spooner and Vladislav Namestnikov are all restricted free agents with a lot to prove. All three are coming off of okay seasons in terms of production. Yet, projecting their potential earnings going forward is difficult because of who they are as players.
None of the three players are particularly good at generating their own offense. Vesey, Spooner and Namestnikov are all dependent on their line mates to create offensive chances. These are textbook situations for the dreaded bridge deal. Instead of doing bridge deals, New York should look to move two of the three players and pick one to keep in house.
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The Rangers have a summer filled with uncertainty. To help bring the future into focus, New York should make an investment in their future with both Hayes and Skjei. Giving both players four year deals at around $4 million would be a great result for the summer.