Marc Staal’s Agent: “It’s All Been Positive To This Point”
Paul Krepelka the agent for impeding Unrestricted Free Agent, Marc Staal has been cautiously optimistic. “The tenor of the talks has been good, so we’ll keep going and keep working on it. There’s certainly no deadline on our part for getting this done.”
Larry Brooks of the NY Post, who has been doing a fine job of chronicling Staal’s negotiations, is reporting that “progress” has been made. In his latest article, he states that Staal is looking for 6 to 7 years at $6,000,000 or more.
A hefty price tag for the 28 year old shut down defenseman with a permanently injured eye. A deal closer to what Dan Girardi signed this past season would make more sense. Even with the cap ceiling expected to increase next year, another 6 million plus contract will start to handcuff what the Rangers can do to improve.
Derek Stepan is sure to get over 5 million, as will Mats Zuccarello, both of which will be free agents next summer as well. Considering how Sather handled Ryan Callahan, if a deal can’t be struck before the March 2nd deadline – off you go.
So while this sounds positive in September, if both sides are still far apart in February, a Callahan repeat is not improbable. If we learned anything last season, playing hardball with Slats is a losing proposition.
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