Ryan Strome walking same arbitration path as Chris Kreider did in 2016

Chris Kreider submitted what he is seeking in arbitration and the Rangers countered right before they went before an arbitrator. This was July 21, 2016 and the young power forward was asking for $4.75 million as the Rangers lowballed a counter of $3.2 million.

When it was all said and done, the Rangers and Chris Kreider agreed to a 4 year deal with an AAV of 4.625M at the 11th hour on July 22, 2016. They were basically at the courthouse steps.

Cutting it Close with Chris Kreider

As the last few grains of sand were dropping in the hourglass, the announcement of the new deal came on the morning of his hearing. Jeff Gorton avoided the arbitration and the potential 1 year award that may have forced a trade deadline move later in the season.

Now here we are with Ryan Strome just two days away from his arbitration hearing. Will it get there?

rangers arbitration ryan strome
Strome and Kreider eerily similar (AP)

Ryan Strome’s pending hearing

I was recently told the Rangers and Ryan Strome were making progress on a new one or two year deal per a source familiar with the situation. This has not panned out and I haven’t heard a reason why or any new updates.

Ideally the Rangers would like to get Strome in around $4 million to $4.5. Of course that is a marginal raise to his current $3.1 deal. If they get to arbitration on November 5, he could receive over $5 million and put the Rangers in a bind.

A one year deal that will allow him to become a UFA next season could likely come in under the $5 million range. Adding another year is buying free agency from Strome and thus push it to the $5 to $5.5 million dollar range.

Of course, the Rangers managed to get Tony DeAngelo who was 4th in scoring for defenseman at an AAV of $4.8 million. That was on a two year term and should give an indication that Strome should come in around the same.

The Walk-Away and Walk-Back scenario

Could the Rangers really walk away from Strome like they did with Nik Zherdev? The answer is yes and that’s because for this season only, there is something called a walk back. That’s where Strome could still win his arbitration and opt to accept the Rangers offer if he doesn’t like what he finds on the open market.

Bottom line, if they get to Thursday and go before the arbitrator the above scenario will happen days after. So this could still take days to resolve.

Anthony Scultore has been covering the New York Rangers and the NHL since 2014. His work also appears at... More about Anthony Scultore

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