While excitement is building around the New York Rangers ahead of a push for the Stanley Cup in the 2012-13 season - provided that the season actually gets started - there is one missing piece to the puzzle that the Broadway Blueshirts have yet to put into place.
No, it's not Shane Doan, although the Rangers still have to be considered a leading contender for the services of the Phoenix Coyotes captain should he decide to leave the Arizona desert, and if he stays in Phoenix or signs elsewhere, the Rangers could certainly look to add another veteran presence to their forward corps (Jason Arnott, perhaps?). However, the player in question is one who was a key to the Rangers' Atlantic Division title and Eastern Conference Finals run in 2011-12: defenseman Michael Del Zotto.
Del Zotto, a restricted free agent who scored 10 goals and handed out 31 assists last year while posting a career-best plus-20 rating, remains unsigned more than six weeks after the official expiration of his entry-level contract with the Rangers. According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, the Rangers' offer to the 22-year-old Del Zotto is in the range of $2.2 to $2.5 million per year for a multi-year contract, and the Stouffville, Ontario native isn't biting.
Based on the current collective bargaining agreement, the Rangers have a little less than $12 million in space under the salary cap for next season. Given that Doan is expected to sign for $7.5 million per year, at most, the Rangers' offer doesn't have much to do with keeping money clear for Doan. However, it is worth noting that Rangers defensemen Marc Staal and Dan Girardi both make upwards of $3 million, with Staal pulling in just under $4 million per year. Based on that structure within the organization, $2.2 for Del Zotto seems on the light side, and he should probably be worth $2.8 to $3 million, figuring that his third season is more indicative of his future in the NHL than his first two.
So if the Rangers aren't worried about having enough money to sign Doan, why are they offering Del Zotto less than he's worth?
For starters, that's how contract negotiations work. Ownership's offer is lower than market value, while the player's demands are higher, and if it all works out the way it's supposed to, the player gets what he's worth in the end.
The other factor to consider is that there is, in all likelihood, a lockout coming, and when the smoke clears, the new collective bargaining agreement might not be as friendly to a player in Del Zotto's position. The Rangers could certainly be lowballing Del Zotto in the hopes that the threat of a lockout motivates him to take less than he might otherwise. Brooks suggested in his column on Sunday that the pending lockout could be a motivating factor, although he centered his focus on less salary cap money available.
The risk, from the Rangers' perspective, is that another team could make a move on Del Zotto through an offer sheet. The Blueshirts would almost certainly match any reasonable offer for Del Zotto, but they could wind up paying more than they'd want to, as the Nashville Predators certainly did when they matched the Flyers' 14-year, $110 million offer sheet to Shea Weber.
No one's going to offer that kind of money to Del Zotto, of course, but it might be worth it for the Flyers to use their $3.5 million in cap space to sign Del Zotto to an offer sheet. The Rangers would match, but they'd also spend more money than they'd like, which could impede their efforts down the road, perhaps even as soon as next summer, when Ryan McDonagh, Carl Hagelin and Derek Stepan will all be restricted free agents.
Whatever happens, don't plan on seeing Michael Del Zotto anywhere other than New York when the season starts. As for how much money he'll make, figure $2.95 million per year under the current salary cap, or a proportional amount if the cap is lowered.
