The New York Rangers have three key forwards as restricted free agents and all three of them want arbitration.
Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello, and Chris Kreider have all filed for arbitration. In case you’ve forgotten, arbitration can get awkward if it reaches a hearing as the player and team make a case for what they feel they should be paid/pay out.
The upside here is this buys time to continue negotiations to get a long-term deal done. That’s just what the Rangers would like to do with these three forwards as they were instrumental in getting the team to the Stanley Cup Final last season.
Brassard is coming off a four-year, $12.8 million deal with a $3.2 million cap hit. Zuccarello is coming off a one-year, $1.15 million contract while Kreider just completed his entry-level contract that had an $800,000 cap hit.
All three players should expect raises and, according to CapGeek.com, the Rangers have just over $14 million in cap space. They have one other restricted free agent in defenseman John Moore.