In case you missed it, the Ryan Strome arbitration numbers are in. The NY Rangers have come in at $3.6 million, while Strome has come in at $5.7 million. This is a very large gap, but not unexpected. With the numbers officially in, the Rangers have a lot of options with Ryan Strome’s arbitration.
1. The most obvious choice is that the arbitrator splits the difference on a one year deal. This means a one year, $4.65 million contract for Strome. This is about where we figured he would be on a short term deal, but over the $4.54 million walk away point. This leaves the Rangers with a pair of choices. Either take the contract, or walk away.
2. Walking away is an interesting topic. On the surface, walking away is silly. The Rangers would be losing an asset for nothing. Even if you get a 3rd round pick, you take the pick. But it’s not that simple in a flat cap era. UFAs aren’t getting much on the market. Even Mike Hoffman remains a free agent. So walking away doesn’t necessarily mean walking away.
3. The Rangers –if they walk away from Strome’s arbitration reward– probably think they can get Strome on a short term deal for less money. That’s certainly a possibility. It’s a risky proposition though, so you have to assume they have a Plan B in mind.
4. Could a return for Derick Brassard be the Plan B? There’s a lot of talk about it, but Brassard isn’t the middle-six center he used to be. If Brassard, or a center like him, is the Plan B, then Plan A is Filip Chytil getting a long, long audition as the 2C. In fact, this is something we should just accept heading into the season.
5. This whole center dilemma is just odd to me. The Rangers couldn’t trade Strome, haven’t re-signed him, could walk away arbitration, and may or may not have a Plan B. It’s tough to gauge where exactly we stand in the offseason, so is this too late in the game?
6. This assumes the arbitrator comes in at exactly 50%. It’s unlikely, but the reward could come in under. It still seems like the Rangers are comfortable with Strome at under the walk away value.
7. I get the feeling COVID messed with the plans here. Based off his season, there should be at least one team willing to trade for Strome and re-sign him to a decent deal. That’s just how free agency works – he’d be the bad deal of 2020. However it’s a COVID world. No one has money.
8. To be clear about the cap situation, the Rangers are fine. No matter which of the Ryan Strome arbitration options they choose, they don’t have cap concerns. They’d have $2.2 million in cap space for Brendan Lemieux. More than enough to work with.
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