The three most straight forward Group II deals are done for the Rangers, with Brian Boyle having agreed yesterday to a three-year contract worth $1.7 million per season.
But now having taken care of contracts for support players Boyle, Artem Anisimov and Michael Sauer, the Rangers are faced with the challenge of signing lynchpin bookend wingers Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky, each of whom has filed for salary arbitration.
Dubinsky, whose hearing is scheduled for next Thursday, is two years away from unrestricted free agency under terms of the current collective bargaining agreement. The Rangers would be expected to elect a two-year arbitration award should the parties be unable to agree on a long-term contract prior to the hearing.
Callahan, however, would be eligible to hit the open market next July 1 if the Rangers are unable to sign him to a long-term deal before then. As such, there is more urgency to avoid arbitration with Callahan, whose hearing is scheduled for July 28 and can only receive a one-year award.
Boyle had a breakout year — or at least a breakout first-half — for the Rangers to gain a whopping 224-percent increase over the $525,000 he earned last season. The $1.7 million is at least twice what a team would slot for a fourth-line center.
The 6-7, 245-pound, 26-year-old pivot spent last summer training with skating instructor Barbara Underhill and thereby saved an NHL career going nowhere fast. Boyle, who had scored a total of 12 goals in 107 matches over his first three NHL seasons, recorded 21 last year in 15:44 per, but scored one goal in the last 19 games and three in the final 30 as he seemed to wear down.
Boyle, who amped up his physical game in combining most of the year with winger Brandon Prust, at both even-strength and on a penalty-kill tandem, led the Rangers with 25 shots in the five-game playoff loss to the Capitals but failed to record a point.
Callahan and Dubinsky are each expected to come in at between $3.7-$4.4 million per should their cases go to arbitration, and somewhat more than that on long-term deals.
The Rangers, who are still hunting for a veteran third-pair defenseman, do not face a pressing summer salary-cap issue. But the club’s rate of spending likely means that roster decisions will ultimately be shaped by the cap.