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Stanley Cup (award)

Tarasenko deal is long-term pact Rangers hard-pressed to make with Stepan

Kevin Allen
USA TODAY Sports
St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko during the first period in game three of the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. The Blues defeated the Wild 6-1.

The St. Louis Blues signed star Vladimir Tarasenko to an eight-year, $60 million contract on Tuesday to achieve the roster certainty the New York Rangers only wish they had.

While the Rangers are still looking for a way to fit a new contract for key center Derek Stepan, 25, into their beleaguered salary cap position, the Blues locked up Tarasenko, 23, beyond his 30th birthday.

"Getting this player signed through the prime of his career is really exciting for us," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said.

Armstrong said initial talks with Tarasenko weren't about the economic issues, but rather whether Tarasenko and the Blues had the same vision about where this team was headed.

"We talked about the number of players we had in his age bracket that he could grow with and win with," Armstrong said. "When it was clear we had the same goals, it became a business decision. He said, 'This is what I think I'm worth,' and I said, 'Then this is how many years I think we need."

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Armstrong said the Blues purposely cleared out cap space to make sure they were not vulnerable to an offer sheet being submitted to Tarasenko. That meant they didn't have pressure to have a new deal done before Tarasenko's contract expired on July 1.

"I think offer sheets are part of the game," Armstrong said. "I think they are going to be used more moving forward."

Because of the declining value of the Canadian dollar, the NHL salary cap is rising only $2.1 million to $71.4 million a team next season.

In previous years, it was almost a given that teams would re-sign top restricted free agents. But that changed this season when the Boston Bruins traded Dougie Hamilton, 22, and the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks dealt Brandon Saad, 22. Both the Bruins and Blackhawks were pushed tight against the salary cap, and didn't believe they could afford their young players' demands.

Saad eventually signed for $36 million over six years with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Hamilton got a six-year, $34.5 million deal with the Calgary Flames.

"This is the first year we saw the leveling off of the cap and some (teams) were hampered by that leveling off," Armstrong said. "As a market our size, we love to see the growth of game, but it's difficult for a lot of the franchises to be spending at that $70-plus million … selfishly we were happy to see that there was a leveling off."

The Rangers' issue is compounded by the fact that Stepan has filed for arbitration and could receive an award that would add additional stress on their cap outlook.

According to generalfanager.com, the Rangers are $10.2 million under their salary cap ceiling with forwards Stepan, Jesper Fast, J.T. Miller and Emerson Etem still to sign.

The Rangers originally probably were hoping to sign Stepan for less than $6.5 million per season. An arbitrator could come back with an award higher than that.

However, the Buffalo Sabres last week signed Ryan O'Reilly, 24, to a seven-year deal worth $7.5 million. That signing has extenuating circumstances because O'Reilly would have been an unrestricted free agent in 2016. Plus, the Sabres were the NHL's worst team and essentially were recruiting O'Reilly to stay with the team long term.

The real issue from Stepan's perspective is that he has been a more productive and better all-around player than O'Reilly has since they came into the NHL. Stepan has a plus-minus of +63 over the past three seasons.

It's a difficult situation for the Rangers because they are a Stanley Cup contender, and Stepan would appear to be vital to their success.

Historically, only a smattering of players who file for arbitration ever get to a hearing. Usually, the threat of arbitration brings the two sides together. Arbitrator rulings are based on what has happened in marketplace, but their rulings are difficult to predict.

Stepan, though, seems like a good candidate to land a favorable award from an arbitrator.

Already, there is speculation that the Rangers might look to trade a defenseman, such as Keith Yandle or Kevin Klein, to create more space to accommodate the re-signing of Stepan.

Considering how important centers are to success in the NHL, it's hard to believe the Rangers would consider trading Stepan. But coming into this season, most general managers would have said that it was unlikely that a team would trade a top-pairing defenseman like Hamilton or a top line left wing like Saad.

"There are so many factors that go into our business now," Armstrong said. "To say that the Blues signed Tarasenko, so everyone is going to sign players to eight-year deals, I don't think is realistic. Just like when we sign Jaden Schwartz for two years, you couldn't say, 'OK there will be no more eight-year deals.' You go by the ebbs and flows of what is best for your team."

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