Sign in Subscribe
Front Page

New York Rangers and Brendan Lemieux File Salary Requests for Arbitration

The Rangers are roughly $1 million apart ahead of Friday’s scheduled hearing.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has reported the arbitration numbers from the New York Rangers and RFA winger Brendan Lemieux.

Yesterday the numbers were also announced for Ryan Strome, and the gap between the two sides was larger than that of the Rangers and Lemieux.

Report: Rangers and Ryan Strome File Salary Proposals for Arbitration

Because Lemieux was the one to file for arbitration, the Rangers were able to chose the award term. Strome is in the last year of RFA status, so any deal through arbitration is automatically one year in length.

Lemieux made $925,000 last season, and his ask of a raise to $2 million is unlikely to be met. He’s appeared in 78 games with the Rangers over two seasons, averaging 12:52 a game while posting a line of 9-15-24.

Other than blocking shots and having a knack for drawing penalties, he isn’t a player that pushed the needle in a significant way for the Rangers.

They are by no means comparables for the sake of arbitration, but for reference, Jesper Fast made $1.85 million the last three seasons, and posted a line of 33-49-82 in 206 games, or .40 P/GP. A player of Lemieux’s age, ability, and value is closer to being a $1 million player than a $2 million player especially with a flat cap.

Based on the numbers presented, I feel that Lemieux is a player that is more likely to come to an agreement prior to arbitration than Strome, but this late in the game there’s no telling what could happen. He has a weaker case and might be more apt to taking a deal that bumps him up from $925,000 instead of running the risk of losing in the hearing and receiving an initial bump of ‘just’ $25,000 in year one.

Overall the Rangers need to be mindful of their cap situation, as their rookie bonus situation means they have less money available than it appears they do. For more on that, you can check out this story from a few weeks ago.

Where Things Stand For New York Rangers Ahead of NHL Free Agency

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

Read next