The New York Rangers have come to terms on a two-year contract with restricted free agent forward Derek Stepan, according to multiple reports on Thursday afternoon.
Derek Stepan agrees to 2-year contract with Rangers
Derek Stepan has agreed to a two-year contract with the New York Rangers. He is the final restricted free agent to sign a contract this offseason.
USA TODAY Sports
The agreement will pay Stepan approximately $6.15 million dollars, according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post. Stepan was originally pushing for a multi-year contract, but the Rangers wanted a bridge deal. Ultimately, Stepan’s camp agreed to the concept and the two sides began negotiating off a two-year framework, with compensation remaining the final hurdle.
Manager Glen Sather questioned Stepan's decision making on a televised interview during an exhibition game against the Calgary Flames. Sather believed that the discussions would be resolved in the near future as he didn't think Stepan would want to miss any more time than he already.
Turns out he was right.
The 23-year-old forward is coming off a team-leading 44 point season (18 goals and 26 assists) in 2013 while averaging 20:55 of ice-time (2:49 average on the power play and 2:06 on the penalty kill) over the span of 48 games. In addition, Stepan has registered 140 points (56 goals and 84 assists) in 212 career regular season games.
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