Tampa Bay’s signings of Group II, salary arbitration-filers Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat have set a bar that should inform Mika Zibanejad’s negotiations with the Rangers in advance of No. 93’s scheduled hearing on July 25.
Johnson, the center who will turn 27 before the end of the month, signed a seven-year deal worth $5 million per season. Palat, the 26-year-old winger, signed a five-year contract worth $5.3 million per.
In the world of comparables, that should set the number around $4.8 million per for the 24-year-old Zibanejad — who, somewhat strangely, is using his half-brother, Monir Kalgoum, to represent him in his talks with the Blueshirts after leaving the powerhouse Newport Sports Agency following the season.
Palat (74 goals, 144 assists and 218 points in 307 career games) averages .24 goals, .47 assists and .71 points per game. Johnson (89-122-211 in 308 games) averages .29 goals, .39 assists and .68 points per game. Zibanejad (78-110-188 in 337 games) averages .23 goals, .33 assists and .56 points per game.
In addition, Zibanejad’s postseason numbers don’t approach those posted by two of Tampa Bay’s Triplets. Johnson has recorded 42 points (21-21) in 47 postseason games, Palat 29 (14-15) in 46 games and Zibanejad 17 (4-13) in 28 playoff contests including his two-goal, seven-assist, nine-point effort in 12 games for the Rangers this past tournament.
The amount of years could well become the stickiest issue in the negotiations — for if Zibanejad does indeed become the first Ranger since Sean Avery and Nikolay Zherdev in 2007 to go through a hearing, he would be eligible for a two-year award that would deliver him to unrestricted free agency on July 1, 2019, at the age of 26.
The Rangers probably would prefer to lock in Zibanejad for five seasons. But the center, whose broken leg limited him to 56 games and 37 points (14-23), likely is interested in a shorter deal through which he could increase his value. And in this era where the demand for quality on the open market far exceeds the supply, Zibanejad would be able to cash in even off a couple of ordinary seasons.
A one-year deal would give Zibanejad immense leverage at this time next year, especially as it is expected Kevin Shattenkirk’s ability to deliver the puck will increase No. 93’s efficiency and numbers this season. The Rangers can’t put themselves in that position.
So maybe four years is the compromise length of the contract. The question, however, is how much the center-deprived Blueshirts would have to add onto the baseline of $4.8 million in order to keep their putative first-line center from going through with arbitration.
Because even by winning that hearing, the Rangers would lose.
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Breaking down the Islanders John Tavares dilemma
As July 4 fireworks arrived, a contract extension between John…
This, too, on Johnson and Palat, both of whom are eminently movable before their respective no-trade clauses kick in next July 1:
Am I the only one envisioning both of them being part of the package the Lightning would offer the Islanders in exchange for John Tavares at some point this season if No. 91 remains unsigned?
I know the Islanders say (and likely believe) they are committed to riding out the entire season, if necessary, in order to get the captain under contract just the way the Lightning did through 2015-16 when Steven Stamkos was on the cusp of unrestricted free agency. And of course, the Tampa Bay organization’s patience was rewarded when their No. 91 agreed to an eight-year contract extension two days before he could have hit the open market.
But remember this. The Lightning had gone to the Cup finals in 2015 and to the seventh game of the Eastern Conference finals in 2016. They were (and again appear to be) upper-echelon contenders. That is kind of where the comparison stops, doesn’t it?
If Tavares does go through the season unsigned and does reach free agency, there is a keen sense Tampa Bay will be among his most aggressive suitors, with their no-state-tax location a significant benefit to the cause.
Friday’s press conference at Nassau Coliseum, in which myriad politicians pledged their commitment to bringing the Islanders back to their birthplace, resembled a grade-school assembly. It is difficult to imagine something like that impressing Tavares … or anyone with a stake in the team, financial or otherwise.
More to the point, can anyone point to a single word from, or action by, Scott Malkin and Jon Ledecky that would create the impression the club owners have any desire at all to move the team back to Long Island?
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Ryan McDonagh will be in John Tavares position soon enough
Sidney Crosby is operating under the most club-accommodating contract in…
A week ago, we listed Sidney Crosby, Tavares and Ryan McDonagh as the players with the most club-accommodating contracts in the league.
Though that is true on long-term (non-entry level) agreements, the most club-friendly contract in the NHL is the three-year deal worth $4.767 million per under which Nikita Kucherov enters Year 2 for the Lightning.
In what world, you might ask, is the 24-year-old Kucherov receiving less than Palat and Johnson? The one in which Tampa Bay’s best player was not arbitration eligible when his contract was up last summer, that’s what world.
According to a well-placed source, there has been no communication between the NHL and NHLPA regarding the league’s anticipated ruling on which classes of players, exactly, will be barred from participating in the Olympics.
The league unlikely is to prohibit players in the NHL or AHL from going, but Sixth Avenue’s intentions are unclear regarding athletes under contract playing in Europe or in the Canadian junior leagues.
Slap Shots has been told the PA views this as a matter under which individual owners should be permitted to grant permission to their respective team’s players to go to Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Indeed, the union would be expected to grieve or otherwise contest blanket prohibition of players under NHL contract from participating in the 2018 Games.