Mika Zibanejad’s ask for $5.35 million would be pretty well within the parameters of precedent if that number was attached to a four- or five-year deal.
Detroit’s Tomas Tatar signed for $5.3 million per for four years while surrendering three seasons of unrestricted free agency. Tampa Bay’s Tyler Johnson gave up six seasons of unrestricted free agency in signing a seven-year deal worth $5M per while teammate Ondrej Palat surrendered four seasons of unrestricted free agency with his recent five-year contract for $5.3M per. And a year ago, Brayden Schenn signed a four-year deal worth $5.125M per in yielding two seasons of unrestricted free agency.
All would be more or less statistical comparables to Zibanejad, who has recorded 188 points (78-110) in 337 games over five NHL seasons, including last year’s injury-interrupted 37-point output (14-23) in 56 games with the Rangers.
The stark difference is that the 24-year-old center is seeking that much for a one-year arbitration award as he and general manager Jeff Gorton prepare for a hearing in Toronto on Tuesday. Zibanejad would thus still be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in 2019 after another go at salary arbitration next summer.
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Which is why the Blueshirts submitted a bottom-of-the-market $4.1 million number in their brief that was filed Sunday. If left to arbitration, Zibanejad’s award likely would be in the $4.5-4.75 million range.
Gorton is expected to meet with Zibanejad and his agent, Monir Kalgoum, prior to the hearing in an attempt to hammer out a multi-year deal for the club’s projected first-line center that presumably would come in at the $5.25-$5.5 million neighborhood.
Fifteen Rangers — including Ryan Callahan, Mats Zuccarello and Chris Kreider twice apiece — have filed for salary arbitration over the last 10 summers. All 15 were settled before arbitration, and generally within an hour of a scheduled hearing. Sean Avery and Nikolay Zherdev are the last two Blueshirts to go through hearings in 2007.
It is possible that the Rangers and Zibanejad could reach an agreement on a multi-year deal in the two-day period between a hearing and the arbitrator’s announcement of an award. That’s what happened last week with the Red Wings and Tatar.
The Rangers will have a 48-hour buyout window following settlement of the Zibanejad case that will resolve Marc Staal’s immediate fate.