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

[AlternateSideParking]

Our biggest issue last year was our depth.

If you don't realize how important signing guys like Falk, Pouliot and Moore were this off-season, then i really question if you even watched them last year.

We had games where our 4th line was Haley-Newbury-Bickel. That's unacceptable.

We lost a lot of depth last year and we have built it back up very quickly, due to the saavy Gaborik trade and the smart signings of very high end role players in Moore/Pouliot, on the extremely cheap.

And if you think those signings have ANYTHING to do with step not getting paid, then you've also clearly missed out on past negotiations when we had cap room for guys going into bridge years. Callahan, Dubinsky, Hagelin, Staal, Girardi, Del Zotto. I could go on, but there's a precedent and the Rangers should stick to it.

Sooner or later Stepan and his moron agent will realize they don't have a choice but to sign on the dotted line.

Those depth guys are a dime a dozen. GMs werent holding their breaths for guys like Pouliot and Falk. Look at all the quality veterans still available or playing via tryouts.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

Those depth guys are a dime a dozen. GMs werent holding their breaths for guys like Pouliot and Falk. Look at all the quality veterans still available or playing via tryouts.

Yea but everything he said is still spot on

 

[haveandare]

Gotta love people who repeat the same thing without reading a few posts up.

I read this entire page, and a few pages before it. What post are you referring to? And what does your passive aggressive mockery add to the discussion?

 

[Tawnos]

Those depth guys are a dime a dozen. GMs werent holding their breaths for guys like Pouliot and Falk. Look at all the quality veterans still available or playing via tryouts.

Then why do we have such a hard time finding them?

 

[TheTakedown]

http://snyrangersblog.com/2013-14/2...ne-what-the-rangers-will-go-toolympic-factor/

Now Brooks is saying 3.5M/yr is too much for Stepan...

3.25 or 3.3 will get it done.

Sather wants to give 2.95-3M... Step wants 3.5M

Step will reduce his asking price to 3.4M
Sather will then offer 3.1M
Step will say he'll take 3.3
Sather will say 3.25
Step will accept.


Give it about 2 weeks, after a few more cuts are made

 

[Drewbackatu*]

J h

The kid shouldnt be punished for Sather's BS FA depth signings. He deserves what he's asking, which is certainly reasonable when you consider he's developing into the star everybody thought he could become.

The idea that Stepan is at fault here is ridiculous. Pouliot, Pyatt, Powe, Falk, Asham, Moore.

Those guys were not anywhere near the top or middle of the totem pole in terms of off season priorities. I can accept keeping Richards. The aforementioned scrubs, not a chance.

Why do you classify what Sather did as BS FA depth signings when the roster is flawed enough as it is?

Should he have saved all the cap space so poor Derek Stepan could have the kind of inflated contract for 6 or 7 years that some teams hand out sometimes foolishly to underserving players?

The one damn thing that the Teflon GM does right around here is to work within the confines of the cap in offering bridge deals to players who have no leverage like Stepan.

It was ok for Subban and Couture(both players who are miles ahead of Stepan skillwise) to sign 2 year bridge deals for less than 6 mil but Stepan, who perhaps has an inflated opinion of himself( this based on one strike shortened 44 game season's production) can't play for 6 mil for the next 2 yrs?

Maybe it's time for Stepan and his agent to put aside their personal agendas over a few hundred thousand and start thinking of the team's needs because he is obviously a very big piece to the puzzle here.

 

[Overcast]

Then why do we have such a hard time finding them?

The Rangers have difficulty finding any player that can sustain a high level of play. They've rolled ~3 lines of depth players for the last 20 years.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

I read this entire page, and a few pages before it. What post are you referring to? And what does your passive aggressive mockery add to the discussion?

I was wodnering the same. I was thinking maybe you accidentally double posted, he removed the double and then publicly called you out in a manner that was WAAAAAAY too aggressive.

 

[AlternateSideParking]

Then why do we have such a hard time finding them?

Guys like Stepan are harder to find than guys like Pouliot and Moore.


That's my point.

 

[16 To Stanley*]

Guys like Stepan are harder to find than guys like Pouliot and Moore.


That's my point.

And yet our downfall for most of last year was the fact that we didn't have those guys.

Like it or not, it's very important to round out a team. And signing those guys, once again, has absolutely nothing to do with us signing Stepan.

I like how you only responded to that part of my post though, and not the part that explained why the Rangers have stood pat on bridge contracts, to other comparable players who have come up through their systems.

Also, may i ask how you know what GM's were and weren't planning?

I guarantee you both Moore and Pouliot would have been signed by other teams had the Rangers not gotten them.

Moore specifically came to the Rangers first.....didn't even listen to other teams.

 

[Boruto]

I think Stepan is smart enough to be able to adjust to situations such as missing camp and finding a spot in the lineup. Although, he had historically been a headcase and his personality speaks to that. If he gets off to a slow start and doesn't recover, it's hard to say that the same would have happened had he been in camp. Dubinsky got off to a slow start and the rest of his year also tanked to ****. Brad Richards confessed that he did get off to a slow start because of his poor conditioning. Beaver also stressed that by the end of the year, conditioning was just one of many reasons and problems that lead to his abysmal year. By the end, his lack of confidence in himself, his coach's lack of confidence in him, the disappointment from the fans, team, coaching staff, and himself weighed on him. He lost interest and passion and doubted his ability. The war became with the media instead of with his game. Conditioning was the least of his concern by the end of the season.

If we're talking about a player like Lundqvist, McDonagh, or Staal, missing games is merely a matter of regaining timing and focus. For a headcase like Step who started last season being one of the worst forwards we had on the team, you'd have to wonder if missing camp and even games will set him up for something unsavory.

It's easy to say players often jump into the lineup from injuries, trades, scratching and perform really well. Yet, looking at our most successful years in the Tortorella and Renney regimes, we had a major disappointment in Dubinsky offensively the one year when we needed that extra push and an even bigger disappointment in Richards last year.

It's doesn't take as much. The man needs bring the negotiation back onto the table and take the $100,000 - $150,000 he might lose annually by initiating negotiations and just play hockey. A single bad 1/2 season in a bridge deal could easily take a $32M/6YRS contract down to $28.5M/6YR contract.

 

[Doctyl]

I think Stepan is smart enough to be able to adjust to situations such as missing camp and finding a spot in the lineup. Although, he had historically been a headcase and his personality speaks to that. If he gets off to a slow start and doesn't recover, it's hard to say that the same would have happened had he been in camp. Dubinsky got off to a slow start and the rest of his year also tanked to ****. Brad Richards confessed that he did get off to a slow start because of his poor conditioning. Beaver also stressed that by the end of the year, conditioning was just one of many reasons and problems that lead to his abysmal year. By the end, his lack of confidence in himself, his coach's lack of confidence in him, the disappointment from the fans, team, coaching staff, and himself weighed on him. He lost interest and passion and doubted his ability. The war became with the media instead of with his game. Conditioning was the least of his concern by the end of the season.

If we're talking about a player like Lundqvist, McDonagh, or Staal, missing games is merely a matter of regaining timing and focus. For a headcase like Step who started last season being one of the worst forwards we had on the team, you'd have to wonder if missing camp and even games will set him up for something unsavory.

It's easy to say players often jump into the lineup from injuries, trades, scratching and perform really well. Yet, looking at our most successful years in the Tortorella and Renney regimes, we had a major disappointment in Dubinsky offensively the one year when we needed that extra push and an even bigger disappointment in Richards last year.

It's doesn't take as much. The man needs bring the negotiation back onto the table and take the $100,000 - $150,000 he might lose annually by initiating negotiations and just play hockey. A single bad 1/2 season in a bridge deal could easily take a $32M/6YRS contract down to $28.5M/6YR contract.

i dont agree with labeling stepan as a headcase

 

[Boruto]

While it's perfectly reasonable for Stepan to try and make as much as he can in case of a career ending injury, it's a part of the game and in the context of salary negotiation, it's a part of the business. There are risks to a lot of jobs and in those jobs, there are standards set for every salary. Stressing that a career ending injury might occur within that job doesn't exactly suffice as a reason to wage a hold out. Every other player goes out there and do what they do with the same risks. If Step was being paid $1.1M a year and a career ending or a life changing injury would impede his ability to self sustain comfortably, then sure, he can push for $1.3M a year seeing as that $200,000 makes a difference in life. However, at this point, by signing at $6.2M contract, he's almost made $10,000,000 in his career.

 

[Boruto]

i dont agree with labeling stepan as a headcase

Such as that he's not a headcase or that it's too extreme to label Step as such?

 

[Lindberg Cheese]

Those depth guys are a dime a dozen. GMs werent holding their breaths for guys like Pouliot and Falk. Look at all the quality veterans still available or playing via tryouts.

Pouliot was an as wesome signing and Falk a pretty good one. Which better mercenary FAs are gonna take take 1.3 mil and 975k respectively? Pouliot and Falk may have futures here.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

Im so sick of this lockout. Just get it done.

Pissed off today. Especially after sitting Jordan Cameron in both of my fantasy leagues.

<----- Idiot.

 

[Riseonfire]

Whats the consensus around these parts on him holding out? If he were an Islander our posters would be losing their god damn minds (they like to freak over everything).

 

[Inferno]

Whats the consensus around these parts on him holding out? If he were an Islander our posters would be losing their god damn minds (they like to freak over everything).

there is no consensus...its either sathers being too cheap, or stepans being too greedy.

personally i fault stepan more than sather, the number stepan wants doesnt matter nearly as much as the number the rangers are willing to give him...why? because he has NO LEVERAGE.

 

[I Am Chariot]

there is no consensus...its either sathers being too cheap, or stepans being too greedy.

personally i fault stepan more than sather, the number stepan wants doesnt matter nearly as much as the number the rangers are willing to give him...why? because he has NO LEVERAGE.

Unfortunately he comes across looking like the new Dubi?

Holdout on the new coach, fresh start, misses camp.. yadda yadda.

 

[Rangers ftw]

Stepan has no leverage what so ever, except for threatening to hurt the Rangers capability to compete 100% from start and stopping AV from using the full squad in pre-season. This while stopping himself from getting in max shape so he can produce at max rate and thereby get maximum out of his next long term contract. Not that clever in the long run imo. I understand he wants to get payed, but that time is not now. Patience young padawan!

 

[Ail]

I honestly still believe Stepan is not this kind of kid. This looks like a bi-product of the numbers game and waiting to see how training camp plays out for the final roster. I will continue to belive this until he misses a regular season game. It sucks to miss all of camp, but if it's just business as usual what can you do?

It's going to be a long week.

 

[eco's bones]

People keep saying Stepan has no leverage and it's not really true. He has the leverage of not signing. This might hurt himself in the short run of being ready when the season starts and the long run--missing paychecks without making up the difference in the dispute before the term is up but it also hurts the Rangers. Not exactly a one way street for either side.

On the face of it the amount isn't so huge that it's worth busting his balls over. Using Stepan as an object lesson to the next batch of RFA's like Del Zotto, Kreider, John Moore etc. it might be deemed worthwhile by the organization to hold it's ground thus turning this into a game of chicken but also setting the tone for future RFA negotiations.

 

[RangerBoy]

$3.2M AVV for 2 years is more than Couture,Subban and Neal got. Couture and Neal signed long-term extensions after the 2 year contracts. $6M for Couture and $5M for Neal. Subban will get $7M. Someone needs to put their arm around Stepan and tell him to sign the 2 years/$6.4M because he will get more money in his next contract with the cap going up. Brooks said Stepan is calling the shots. No offense but he attended Wisconsin for 2 years and he had an obscure major. Judging by the lockouts,athletes aren't actually the brightest people in the world. Stepan wanted a long term deal. He is willing to accept a 2 year deal but wants $7M. Stepan needs to compromise some more on the money. He needs to play for a bigger contract next time and to make the US Olympic team. Stepan will be arbitration eligible next time. He will have all of the leverage.

 

[nyr2k2]

there is no consensus...its either sathers being too cheap, or stepans being too greedy.

personally i fault stepan more than sather, the number stepan wants doesnt matter nearly as much as the number the rangers are willing to give him...why? because he has NO LEVERAGE.

That's not true at all. He has probably the most powerful leverage one can have--the ability to withhold his services entirely. And he's exercising that leverage as we speak.

 

[Championship*]

That's not true at all. He has probably the most powerful leverage one can have--the ability to withhold his services entirely. And he's exercising that leverage as we speak.

Not playing hurts him more than it hurts the Rangers. It hurts his wallet and it hurts his chances with Team USA. So while he has an ability to withhold his services, unless he solicits an offer sheet, not really great "leverage" to have when those are two things he REALLY wants.