In an expected move, the Rangers had three restricted free agents file for salary arbitration before Saturday’s deadline.
Forwards Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello and Chris Kreider all got their paperwork in on time, which does not stop them from negotiating with the club before the case gets in front of an arbiter.
Each will soon have a hearing date set, likely for late-July, and if no deal can be reached by then, the case would be heard.
All three were given qualifying offers, one-year deals that equal their previous season’s salary. The fourth NHL-level players who is a restricted free agent is defenseman John Moore, and he is not arbitration eligible.
Brassard, 26, is coming off a four-year, $12.8 free million deal, so his offer was for $3.7 million. Zuccarello, 26, got an offer for $1.15 million following a regular season when he led the Rangers with 59 points. Kreider, 23, was technically coming off his rookie season, and after his entry-level deal expired, he got an offer for $850,500.
General manager Glen Sather is adamant about certain restricted free agents getting two-year “bridge deals,” yet the goal will be for at least Brassard and Zuccarello to be wrapped up to longer-term deals. If either were to take the one-year deal the arbitration awarded, they would become unrestricted free agents the following offseason and likely create an even more unenviable situation for Sather and his salary-cap management.
The Rangers are approximately $14 million under the $69 million salary-cap ceiling.