Per CBC, budding Rangers power forward Chris Kreider is asking for $2.8 million for his upcoming salary arbitration hearing, and New York brass has countered with a number not that far off.
The Rangers are offering a two year deal worth an average of $2.05 million -- $1.9M in the first year and $2.2M in the second. In terms of single-year average salary, the two sides are only $750,000 apart (though, if Kreider was gunning for a two-year pact at $2.8M, the two sides would really be $1.5M apart.)
Regardless, this economic development has to be seen as a good one for the Blueshirts. They’re doing a bit of a salary cap dance lately and head into three crucial arbitration hearings -- Kreider, Mats Zuccarello and Derick Brassard -- with approximately $12 million in available space.
According to earlier reports, Zuccarello is aiming for a deal that pays $4.5M annually while Brassard wants even more, at $5.5M per.
As for Kreider -- the club’s first-round pick (19th overall) at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft -- he had a very good 2013-14 campaign and will get a raise from the $1.3M annual cap hit from his entry-evel deal. The 23-year-old had 17 points and finished 10th in Calder voting last season, then proceeded to score 13 points in 15 playoff games while averaging close to 17 minutes per night.