So the summer business is all but complete and the core remains almost entirely intact, poised for one more run at the only prize that has eluded the Rangers over the last four years.
Which, being the Stanley Cup, is the only one that matters.
Derek Stepan was the last man in the pool, re-upping on Monday for six years and $39 million, and though it was probably for somewhat more than the Blueshirts would have figured six months ago, it was also probably for somewhat less than No. 21 could have gotten if he’d played through a couple of seasons into 2017 unrestricted free agency.
Which means both parties compromised in contract negotiations that yielded the agreement for $6.5 million per season to avoid the need for a salary arbitration hearing that more likely than not would have started the clock on Stepan’s exit from New York.
“It went the way I expected it to and wanted it to,” Stepan said on a conference call that followed the meeting in Toronto between general manager Jeff Gorton and agent Matt Oates that sealed the deal. “I think Jeff did a great job.
“There wasn’t any bad blood through the whole thing. Hats off to him and my agent.”
Stepan, who turned 25 three weeks after the Rangers’ exit from the playoffs, has been an integral part of the core that has gone to the conference finals three times in the past four years, to the Cup final in 2014, and captured the Presidents’ Trophy in 2014-15 before going down to the Lightning in Game 7 of the Eastern finals.
Fourth in team seniority behind Henrik Lundqvist, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal after joining the club for the 2010-11 season, the alternate captain has centered one of the club’s top two lines for the past four years and has been a fixture on the first power play and on the penalty-kill unit. He played primarily between Chris Kreider and Marty St. Louis last year and between Kreider and Rick Nash two years ago.
With St. Louis’ retirement, the right-handed Stepan is likely to be joined again by Kreider on the left and either Nash, J.T. Miller, Jesper Fast (or maybe even Viktor Stalberg) on the right. That’s what training camp will determine. With Alain Vigneault — who loves to experiment the first couple of months of the year — calling the shots from behind the bench, that’s what October and November will determine.
Stepan, who has steadily improved as a playoff player, was one of the few Rangers to elevate his game during last year’s tournament. His signature moment came in Game 7 of Round 2 when he scored the overtime winner against the Caps to win the series that his team had trailed 3-1.
Carl Hagelin, who was sent to the Ducks in late June for Emerson Etem and a draft pick, is the only core player who was sacrificed to accommodate the cap squeeze that all successful clubs face. The Blueshirts have their top two centers under control for the foreseeable future at a reasonable cost, with Derick Brassard in at $5 million per for the next four years.
In projecting a 22-man roster comprised of current personnel, the Rangers would go into the season with either $850,000 or $950,000 of cap space, depending on whether Raphael Diaz ($700,000) or Dylan McIlrath ($600,000) is the seventh defenseman.
Stepan, who does not qualify for no-trade protection the first two years of the deal, has a no-move clause for Years 3 and 4 and a limited no-trade for the final two years of the deal. His deal is front-loaded at $8 million per the first two years, $7 million the third year, $6 million the fourth year and $5 million for each of the final two seasons.
The center, who was third on the team in scoring in both the regular season (16-39-55 in 68 games) and playoffs (5-7-12 in 19 matches), received lockout protection for 2020-21 (the final year), by getting a $3 million signing bonus that can’t be touched if the owners opt to close the doors for the fourth time that September.
“It’s a great feeling and I can’t be more excited to be part of a team that I love,” Stepan said of the deal he called “life-changing.”
“I’m grateful, to come into the league with the opportunity to be part of an Original Six team, and play for an organization that’s treated me very well. To be able to be a part of this for the next six years and try to find a way to take that next step and [get over] that extra hump, it’s really cool and a special feeling to be a part of it.”
Drop the puck.