Rangers center Ryan Strome had a career year in 2019-20 and finished third on the team in scoring. Despite that, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that the team is undecided about whether or not to tender him a qualifying offer by Wednesday’s deadline.
The 27-year-old posted new benchmarks in assists (41) and points (59) and showed instant chemistry with their big 2019 summer signing in winger Artemi Panarin. However, it’s possible that their connection is giving them some pause.
Before 2019-20, Strome was coming off of five straight seasons between 28 and 35 points. Those numbers were good enough to keep him in the league but he was viewed as a frequent underachiever in his stints with the Islanders and Oilers before joining the Rangers in 2018-19. That track record would be something they’d certainly mention in an arbitration case but his performance this season would still stand out in a hearing. Was this a one-off or a sign of things to come?
Their answer seems to be the latter given this trepidation. If they thought this partnership with Panarin is something that could be sustained, they’d go ahead and sign him without much concern. But it would be hard to commit the salary that he’d receive in a hearing to someone that they believe could go back to that 28-35 point range.
Cap space is something that GM Jeff Gorton has done a lot of work to open up with the deadline trade of Brady Skjei to Carolina, the offloading of Marc Staal to Detroit, and the buyout of franchise legend Henrik Lundqvist (who strongly implied on his Twitter page today that he intends to keep playing). Even so, with several others needing contracts (including blueliner Anthony DeAngelo and goalie Alexandar Georgiev), they’re not in a spot where they can just spend the extra money and hope it all works out in the end.
The qualifying offer in itself of $3.2MM (Strome’s 2019-20 salary) isn’t that bad. But the key number here is $4,538,958, the threshold where the Rangers could walk away from an arbitration award if they thought it was too high. Anything below that amount and they’re stuck with whatever is awarded. But walking away leaves them weak down the middle with Filip Chytil not ready for a top-six role and a free agent market that is largely bereft of top-six options.
Is tendering the qualifying offer worth the risk of Strome’s contract coming in around the $4.5MM mark? Is that risk still worth it considering the state of the free agent market? Gorton now has less than 72 hours to figure out his answers.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
I would walk away. Career year but can’t afford the cap hit.
Anything below $4.5 M is a bargain for a 59 point player in today’s game (or at least yesterday’s, pre-Covid). Someone will trade for him if they can’t keep him.
Why not, there’s no such thing as a bad one year deal. At least they can easily walk away next year if this past one was an outlier and he regresses back to his old numbers.
Panarin is signed til 3020, couldn’t they just stick with him on that line? 1 years deals are the best
@parx – “signed til 3020” ??? Man, he WILL be old and gray! They might not let him be on the PP with a rickety aluminum walker, though. ;)
He’s the new Kip Miller, let him go
4.5m is a bargain if he repeats. If ol oil country strome comes bearing around the bush you look like chiraeli.
*beating
FWIW, Strome played well under Quinn the previous season after the trade from Edmonton.
There was no Panarin, and he bounced around many roles and lines but still put up 18 goals and 33 points in 63 games.
Those numbers are probably close to what he is, a 40-45 point player without Panarin, a 60 point player with him.
He’s also a pretty decent two way player who has fit in well so far, with the lack of depth they have at center it might be tough to let him go without a lot centers on the market.