The New York Rangers have a pair of arbitration cases set to go down over the next few days, including tomorrow’s hearing for Ryan Strome. On Friday, Brendan Lemieux will have his, and today the two sides exchanged figures. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the Rangers have filed for a two-year contract that would pay the young forward $950K in 2020-21 and $1.075MM in 2021-22, while Lemieux filed for a $2MM AAV.
It is important to remember that in the NHL, the arbitrator does not need to choose one filing or the other and usually instead awards a contract somewhere in the middle. The two sides can also come to an agreement in the coming days, though this year once the hearing begins they must wait for the reward and cannot settle while the arbitrator deliberates. The Rangers are able to choose the term of the deal (one or two years) because it was Lemieux who filed for arbitration.
In this case, the player’s ask is not above the $4,538,938 “walk away” threshold, meaning that the Rangers will have to sign Lemieux to whatever the arbitrator awards should the hearing begin.
Lemieux, 24, scored 18 points in 59 games for the Rangers last season while racking up a whopping 111 penalty minutes. That actually put him second in the league in that category behind only Evander Kane’s 122. The feisty, much-like-his-dad forward is a super pest for the Rangers but has also shown the ability to chip in offensively now and again. His deal will likely come in somewhere around $1.5MM per season, a reasonable amount for a player that is unlikely to advance past the bottom-six.
Give Pepe 3 million for 2 years.
This kid is the heart and soul of this team.
Treat him good or one day another team will and we will regret it.
Agreed. He’s worth it.
Totally agree.