New York Rangers: Four questions going into training camp

Do I hear arbitration?

The salary structures in the NHL deeply favor the teams and hinder the player’s respective earning abilities. The fact that players cannot be unrestricted free agents until they are 27 years old or have seven years of NHL service artificially depresses wages. In the cases of Brady Skjei and Kevin Hayes, both are still one more contract away from being unrestricted free agents.

Both Hayes and Skjei have enough NHL service to be eligible for salary arbitration if the players and the Rangers cannot come to an agreement. The Rangers have made it practice to not make it to salary arbitration because of the damage it can do to a relationship with a player. No player wants to hear they’re worth far less than their asking price.

No Ranger player has made it to arbitration since Nikolay Zherdev and Sean Avery way back in 2007. The team has until July 31 to reach a contract with Skjei and August 2nd for Hayes. The Rangers need to not mess things up by trying to be penny smart and dollar dumb. Instead of trying to save money on the front end when they have cap space, the front office should be looking to buy up unrestricted free agency years from both players.

Giving both players four or five year deals worth a little more money than they are worth now, the team will save money in the long run. A bridge deal or an arbitration figure will only raise the player’s respective price next summer. Both Hayes and Skjei figure to be of significance for the team’s rebuild whether it be as players or trade chips.