The New York Rangers presumably dealt young forward Carl Hagelin at least in part because of restricted free agent forward Derek Stepan.
Stepan, 25, remains under the Broadway Blueshirts control, but does not, at present, have a contract. Stepan and the team have a salary arbitration hearing tentatively set for July 27, barring an agreement in the intervening weeks - an agreement, which, per Larry Brooks of the NY Post, seems highly unlikely.
"We're told talks between the parties haven't quite even reached the preliminary stages of negotiating, with the Blueshirts yet to submit an opening proposal for a long-term deal to their 25-year-old center," Brooks reports.
The presumption for most Rangers fans would likely be that, because the team dealt Hagelin, they're probably hard at work trying to hammer out a new contract, something along the lines of the two-year bridge deals that had become so popular but now seem to be falling out of favor, with Stepan.
That, reportedly, is not the case.
Brooks suggests that if the team wants to even consider the notion of a long-term deal, something along the lines of six years with an average annual value of $6.5 million would be a starting point. With the team having approximately $10 million in salary cap space at present and players like J.T. Miller, Jesper Fast and Emerson Etem in need of contract as well, new GM Jeff Gorton certainly has his work cut out for him.
Stepan has really blossomed for the NHL's New York City-based franchise in recent seasons, turning himself into an all-around star-in-the-making.
"Over the past two seasons, Stepan has become one of the standout players on the Rangers, taking on a role as an alternate captain and helping lead New York to consecutive Eastern Conference final appearances and a Stanley Cup final appearance in 2013-14," writes Jared Clinton of The Hockey News. "Stepan is also two years removed from a near point-per-game season during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign and posted his career best points-per-game total in a full season in 2014-15."
Stepan finished third on the Rangers last season in scoring, with 16 goals and 55 points. He averaged the highest ice-time per game of any forward on the team and plays on both the power play and the penalty kill.
In short, he's become the versatile, tough-as-nails presence that has paced the Rangers in recent seasons, in much the same way as Ryan Callahan and Martin St. Louis did before him.
There's no doubting he's likely to remain a Ranger for the foreseeable future, but it'll take some work on Gorton's part to get it done.
