How much can Ryan Strome ask for and what does he deserve?

How does New York Rangers RFA Ryan Strome compare to other free agent centers?

The free agent market has been open for over a week and to describe the action as slow would almost an understatement.   “Free Agent Frenzy” was anything but as teams like the New York Rangers waited to see what prices would be set for the best available players.

On day one, some big name free agents inked contracts.  Defensemen Torey Krug signed a seven-year,  $45 million deal with the St. Louis Blues and T.J. Brodie did a four-year $20 million deal with Toronto.  Goalies were the hot commodity with Jacob Markstrom, Matt Murray, Cam Talbot and Henrik Lundqvist some of the prominent names who signed on October 9.

However, the biggest names were not signed for days.  Taylor Hall signed a one year deal for $8 million with the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo signed a $61.6 million deal with Vegas on Monday and it took almost a week for Evgeni Dadanov to sign with Ottawa.

All told, only seven free agents have signed with new teams for contracts worth an Average Annual Value  (AAV) of $5 million or more and two were goalies. Only five free agent skaters have signed so far for the $5 million Ryan Strome is expected to be asking for.

Strome’s situation

While Ryan Strome, 26,  had a career season in 2019-20, a question is how much he benefited from playing with Artemi Panarin, one of the best players in the NHL.   Limited to 70 games due to the pandemic, Strome scored 18 goals, one off his career high and had 59 points, nine better than his previous high of 50, achieved when he was 21 years old with the Islanders.

While it appears that he has two good seasons with the Rangers, a further examination of his first year indicates that his numbers were inflated.  While he potted 18 goals in 63 games in New York, it was due to a unearthly shooting percentage of 22.5%  That mark was the second best in the NHL that season for any player who played 50 games or more for one team.

It’s worth noting that in 2018-19 he had only 15 assists, the fewest since his rookie season in 2013-14.  That’s not a number you would expect from a second line center.

Let’s look at Strome’s averages for his seven years with the Islanders, Oilers and the Rangers and then separate out his Ranger statistics:

Goals per game:  0.19
Points per game:  0.52
Faceoff winning percentage:  45.9%

Here are his numbers as a Ranger:

Goals per game:  0.27
Points per game:  0.69
Faceoff winning percentage:  47.4%