Speculation: Derek Stepan Negotiations (9/19-Dreger: "Unlikely" Stepan signs before season opens)

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

Lots of people will be ready to tar and feather the kid if he misses regular season games. Things could get ugly.

The Rangers seem pretty committed to the argument of "Well, we can offer $3M per -- a dime more would hurt our already perilous cap situation."

I doubt they move off of it, even if it is an extremely weak argument. They have the leverage, so truth be told, they don't have to have a strong argument.

Stepan would just be hurting his value for his next contract by missing regular season games.

I agree that the ire will be directed at Stepan. But guess where I place the lion's share of the blame? How about the GM that has more poor signings than I can count crying cap poverty in negotiations with his homegrown #1 center? Hows that for cajones?

 

[pld459666]

It is a derogatory term used to refer the the Rangers. No worries, not everyone knows. Just wanted to correct it before it got out of hand.

It's also an endearing term used by MANY of my Rangers friends throughout my 45 years on this earth.

Not everyone looks at that as a derogatory term

just the very thin skinned of the fan base.

 

[Hire Sather]

Seriously?

You went there on this kid already?

Sad.

Hes refusing to play over 500K per season. So yeah, I am.

Does he give a **** if he struggles after missing camp + preseason games under a new coach?

Does he care that his teammates settled for the same deals as RFAs that the team is offering him?

Has anyone else on the team pulled his holdout ********?

No. Its all about Derek Stepan. All about him and getting every cent that he can at the expense of his teammates and fans.

Get me someone who wants to actually play.

Would he rather the team trade someone away so we can give him some more money? if thats what it takes, he doesn't care.. because its about him, and every penny he can squeeze out of the team.

Keep sitting. Earn nothing. Have fun.

 

[NYR Viper]

It's also an endearing term used by MANY of my Rangers friends throughout my 45 years on this earth.

Not everyone looks at that as a derogatory term

just the very thin skinned of the fan base.

I see it as a derogatory term. That's good enough for me.

 

[nyr2k2]

Hes refusing to play over 500K per season. So yeah, I am.

Does he give a **** if he struggles after missing camp + preseason games under a new coach?

Does he care that his teammates settled for the same deals as RFAs that the team is offering him?

Has anyone else on the team pulled his holdout ********?

No. Its all about Derek Stepan. All about him and getting every cent that he can at the expense of his teammates and fans.

Get me someone who wants to actually play.

Would he rather the team trade someone away so we can give him some more money? if thats what it takes, he doesn't care.. because its about him, and every penny he can squeeze out of the team.

Keep sitting. Earn nothing. Have fun.

Why aren't you directing any venom towards the guy your username references?

 

[Off Sides]

Basically this! Makes life miserable for us all, and my job harder.

You should holdout for more money, you have all the leverage now.

 

[Hire Sather]

Do you not like to get paid market value for your services?

Rangers are offering him 500K less than he is asking.

Perfectly fair market value for compareable players.

He was barely a .5 PPG before last season, which wasn't even a full season.

He has yet to prove he can be any more than a .5 PPG player over a full year.

Sign the contract. Prove yourself. Earn more with your next contract like everyone else on the team has done.

 

[Fireonk]

Just curious if you all see any reason Stepan should/would settle for less than 3.36m AAV when he'll likely get that sooner rather than later from an offer sheet (which he may already have on the table but has yet to sign)?

No point for a team to make an offer like this, knowing with 100% certainty that the Rangers will match. Just pisses Sather off and opens yourself up to teams coming back at your RFAs with the sole intention of raising the price for you.

The only RFA offer Stepan is going to get is something that would actually have a chance of going through, which would mean paying him like a UFA and I don't know how many teams will risk paying that much for a guy who only has half a season in the books as a #1 center, in addition to giving up their 1st and 3rd round picks(at least.)

At this point, I think Sather is content going into the season with Brassard/Richards/Boyle/Moore/Lindberg(in no particular order), knowing that as soon as the season starts and Step starts losing paychecks he loses the little leverage he does have. I don't think its worth risking getting Stepan angry at the organization over the amounts that are being discussed, or not giving him the extra time to learn the new system and coaches, but I think thats the tactic Sather is choosing to employ.

 

[Fitzy]

The Rangers are worse off without Stepan, but they can doggone well hold on without him right now. They have an in-form Center in Brassard and some added depth with Moore and Lindberg. A couple weeks without pay would certainly turn the tides, but you have to think this is going to hurt the chances of him signing the long term deal at the end of the bridge.

 

[NYR Viper]

Rangers are offering him 500K less than he is asking.

Perfectly fair market value for compareable players.

He was barely a .5 PPG before last season, which wasn't even a full season.

He has yet to prove he can be any more than a .5 PPG player over a full year.

Sign the contract. Prove yourself. Earn more with your next contract like everyone else on the team has done.

You act like 500k is something to sneeze at. It's 500k! All he has to do is look around his own locker room and see what happened to Sauer and Staal to see that his next game could be his last. I don't fault him for wanting more money. The Rangers should have gotten this done with MUCH earlier than now. They are as much to blame.

 

[Dalagaze]

Was it this bad during the Dubinsky and Staal negotiations? I wasn't on HF at the time.

 

[haveandare]

Why aren't you directing any venom towards the guy your username references?

What does Sather have to do with the fact that Step's teammates have taken similar contracts without making a scene? Yeah, maybe Sather can afford to give him a little more if he moves pieces around, but honestly, I don't think ~3 per for 2 years is very unfair. It's not like Sather's offer is insulting. It's a bridge deal for a guy who has a lot to prove still. Sign it and play.

 

[NYR Viper]

Was it this bad during the Dubinsky and Staal negotiations? I wasn't on HF at the time.

Dubinsky was REALLY bad.

 

[Hire Sather]

Why aren't you directing any venom towards the guy your username references?

Because he is doing what he can to keep our cap down.

It doesn't matter to me that "its not stepans fault" that Richards makes 6.6 mill.

UFAs vs RFAs, everyone knows the difference. You have to give into the UFAs. Sather wants to save cap on the RFAs so he could ice the best team possible.

Stepan has no arby rights and probably won't get an offer sheet.

Why should Sather negotiate against himself? I'd have no problem meeting Stepan in the middle at 3.2.. but if Sather offers that, does Stepan even take it??? Who knows.

 

[Off Sides]

The Rangers are worse off without Stepan, but they can doggone well hold on without him right now. They have an in-form Center in Brassard and some added depth with Moore and Lindberg. A couple weeks without pay would certainly turn the tides, but you have to think this is going to hurt the chances of him signing the long term deal at the end of the bridge.

No thinking more than a year in advance allowed, or was it clean slate, or was it the right way, I can not remember what their slogan for this year was.

 

[Dalagaze]

What does Sather have to do with the fact that Step's teammates have taken similar contracts without making a scene? Yeah, maybe Sather can afford to give him a little more if he moves pieces around, but honestly, I don't think ~3 per for 2 years is very unfair. It's not like Sather's offer is insulting. It's a bridge deal for a guy who has a lot to prove still. Sign it and play.

I blame Sather for not trying to get this done sooner. Unless I hear that Stepan didn't want to negotiate at the beginning of the summer, I'm blaming the GM.

 

[AslanRH]

...
Colorado, if I am not mistaken, was not spending ot the cap last year and could easily afford RO'R at the numbers he got.

I think that Stepan wants to be in NY and that may be why no offer-sheet has been signed to date.

The tight space that teh Rangers have to work within, the desire to remain in NY and an understanding of the economics may all be at play here in why Stepan would be willing to take a little less now to help the team remain competitive.

If he was arbitration eligible. He would be a 5.5 million dollar player.
Based on the formula.

Thanks, I think Step has more leverage to get his desired cash, as it was clear the Avs could match even the crazy $5m AAV without much trouble, so teams were less likely to risk ruffling feathers with an offersheet that would just likely be matched. Rangers are much more hard pressed since too much over 3.3m would force them into making other moves within their roster.

VAN could have done it. Room, Torts, crazy GM.

Anaheim seems like a good option as well. Koivu is soon to retire and should be a 3C at this point anyway, the Ducks are likely a contender in the West, and Step would be a great fit behind Getz going forward. They will likely have 4+m to work with once they cut down their roster without having to dump any contracts in trade. Even a low 1st and 3rd would be good value for Stepan if I'm looking from Anaheim's perspective.

Hopefully this gets worked out soon for you all though, the ROR situation was so frustrating last year, especially on these HF boards.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

What does Sather have to do with the fact that Step's teammates have taken similar contracts without making a scene? Yeah, maybe Sather can afford to give him a little more if he moves pieces around, but honestly, I don't think ~3 per for 2 years is very unfair. It's not like Sather's offer is insulting. It's a bridge deal for a guy who has a lot to prove still. Sign it and play.

Stepan is better than his teammates that were in a similar situation, quite simply.

 

[nyr2k2]

Why should Sather negotiate against himself? I'd have no problem meeting Stepan in the middle at 3.2.. but if Sather offers that, does Stepan even take it??? Who knows.

You're exactly right. Who knows. But instead of waiting, we've got the pitchforks out for that greedy mother****er Stepan!

 

[pld459666]

Hes refusing to play over 500K per season. So yeah, I am.

Does he give a **** if he struggles after missing camp + preseason games under a new coach?

Does he care that his teammates settled for the same deals as RFAs that the team is offering him?

Has anyone else on the team pulled his holdout ********?

No. Its all about Derek Stepan. All about him and getting every cent that he can at the expense of his teammates and fans.

Get me someone who wants to actually play.

line 1 - a Million over 2 years is a lot of money. I have no problems with him holding out of a million.

Line #2 - I'm pretty sure he cares a great deal if he struggles. The next contract will not be based on the 14-15 season, it will be based on the 5 years of his career. He will have every incentive to produce numbers.

Line #3 - Why should he care what other players (teammates or not) signed for. What bearing does what they sign for have on his life.

Line #4 - Who on this team has been in his position of being the best player at his position and come up on Free Agency?

When it's time to negotiate a new contract, it's a players right and obligation to be as selfish as they can be.

Good for him.

He will get a good contract, he will come in and help the team win games.

The idea that he should be traded for this is cutting your nose off to spite your face.

Generalyl speaking it's just a silly mentality to have.

 

[Championship*]

Was it this bad during the Dubinsky and Staal negotiations? I wasn't on HF at the time.

They were signed by now.

Derek should solicit an offersheet on his own at this point if he'd like to play on his terms and no one else's this season. Otherwise he's **** out of luck.

I wonder if he's agent gets fired when he misses out on being on Team USA.

Well he's gotta do what he's gotta do just like the Rangers gotta do what they gotta do. Unfortunately for Derek, he stands to lose more than the Rangers do, and has only 1 other avenue open to him. An avenue that is either unlikely to materialize or even if it did, would not be as good of a situation as the Rangers (low cap or low standing team).

 

[JohnC]

Always wondered what Salem was liking during the Witch Trials. Can we tie cinder blocks to him and throw him in a lake?!

 

[Off Sides]

Always wondered what Salem was liking during the Witch Trials. Can we tie cinder blocks to him and throw him in a lake?!

Stepan would float, you know what else floats?


Hint; it's not Very small rocks

 

[Samuel Culper III]

How many NHL players will miss actual games this season, "sitting out" for larger contracts? How many did that last season? The year before?

I can think of two last year. One came back after signing an offer sheet and seemed to pick it up where he'd left off the year before. The other missed just a few games in the beginning of the season before finally accepting a much lower bridge contract than expected. He won the Norris trophy.

 

[bishop12]

What's the temperature of the fans around here? Fire Sather, keep Sather? This guy is the cheesest of all the GMs. Living in the past from his Oiler days...hasn't done SFA in ages. Chews a unlit cigar. Honestly. Does that sit well with people that he chews that unlit cigar? haha He's justs missing the bad comb over.