New York Rangers: Making $ense of free agency

Brendan Lemieux

I like Brendan Lemieux. He’s feisty, fearless, and every bit as agitating as Sean Avery was (minus the vulgar references to ex-girlfriends).

This season he has six goals and 12 assists for 18 points in 59 games (averaging about 13 minutes of ice per match). He also has 164 hits and 111 penalty minutes. Not bad for a 24-year-old working his way into better physical shape and in his first full year on Broadway.

He was a royal pain in the butt, although sometimes his style bit his own team in the rear.

His willingness to take and give checks, and stand up for teammates, was admirable. However, those traits also led to some bad penalties, including a few late in close games. He also turned over the puck 30 times (compared to just 15 takeaways).

His father, Claude, played much the same way.

Except the elder Lemieux had 10 goals,16 points and 68 PIMs in 20 playoff games as a rookie for Montreal, helping the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup in 1986. He also won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1995 after leading the Devils to their first NHL championship.

Nobody expects son to be as productive as father was. However, it’s fair to wonder whether the Rangers believe the kid can clean up and elevate his game enough to warrant an upgrade of the one-year, $925,000 deal they gave him last September.

He’s a RFA, so he’s the team’s property for two more years. But how much could he get in arbitration? Anything north of $1 million is too much.