With the plethora of restricted free agents the Rangers have this summer, Matt Gilroy is often lost in the fold.  Signed to a two-year deal as an undrafted free agent prior to the 2009-2010 season (with a cap hit of $1.75 million), Gilroy has been less than stellar in his two years.  Often a healthy scratch, Gilroy has just 26 points in 127 games during the length of his contract, a far cry from what was expected of him coming to the Rangers.  Due to this underwhelming performance and hefty contract, many didn’t even expect Gilroy to receive an offer this offseason.  However, Larry Brooks is reporting that the Rangers are “expected” to offer Gilroy a multi-year deal this summer:

It’s expected general manager Glen Sather will offer Gilroy a multi-year deal at an average wage well below that number. If Gilroy declines, he would become unrestricted.

Naturally, you have to read around some of the wording there.  “It is expected that…” means that Brooks has no knowledge of whether the Rangers will or won’t offer him a contract, but just that they will offer him a deal.  What is certain is that they will not give Gilroy a qualifying offer of his current salary of $2.1 million.  Also, a multi-year deal just means more than one year, so if there’s an offer of two-years at the league minimum, that technically meets the definition of a multi-year deal at well below Gilroy’s current contract level.

Personally, if the Rangers do offer Gilroy a deal, I would assume that it woul dbe at the two-year, $1.5 million range (meaning $750,000 per season).  In essence, Gilroy is a sixth/seventh defenseman for this team, and his salary should be representative as such.  That may be a bit of a low-ball offer, but in the grand scheme of things in the Rangers organization, Gilroy is but a spare part.  It’s tough to gauge what Gilroy can get on the open market, and what his worth is to the team.  But let’s leave this to you folks; what do you think is a fair offer for Gilroy this summer?

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