Rangers News: Derek Stepan reportedly close to signing
by sloppyseconds on Jun 9, 2010 4:53 PM EDT
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ESPN's EJ Hradek stated on NHL Live that Derek Stepan is very close to signing a contract with the New York Rangers. There was no mention of possible terms, etc. Apparently Wisconsin's campus is aware of this as well, as the buzz there is that Stepan is leaving.
Yes.
Also, you have to wonder if this affect's Ryan McDonagh's decision to leave Wisconsin for New York as well. We shall see.
Update by Dave: 4:35pm: Larry Brooks is reporting that Stepan has officially signed with the Rangers. The deal is an entry-level deal for three years, at $875,000 base salary. Bonuses are currently undisclosed. Stepan's cap hit will be higher than his base salary depending on the bonuses received. Also, since this is an entry level deal, this is a two-way contract, meaning Stepan's salary decreases if he plays in the AHL.
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Oh do I hope that's true.
With Grachev likely heading back to the A, it’d be a beautiful thing for him to start developing chemistry with Stepan now.
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Fiona Quick twitter reported this to EJ Hradek on NHL Live
@QuickFacts Look for Hastings native & World Jr Championships star Derek Stepan to leave Wisconsin & sign with the New York Rangers soo
2011 lineup….
Grachev- Anisimov- Gaborik
Kreider- Stepan- MZA
Dubinsky (re-signed?) – Drury- Callahan (resigned?)
Avery- C- RW
I could live with that, if Kreider decides to try to make the team next year. And it seems like you can’t miss with anyone in the top 10 picks this year. Hopefully that’s actually the case and Sather does the right thing.
Sather Defendors, unite (?)
Avery-Dupont-Byers fill out the bottom. Swap Kreider and Dubinsky, Kreider would do much better with a 3rd line assignment, and given Dubi’s history of outscoring while getting even the toughest minutes, he’s the perfect add for Stepan-MZA.
It’s probably a little aggressive to expect them all ready next year, but it certainly is pretty.
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by George E. Ays on Jun 9, 2010 3:55 PM EDT up reply actions
No.
Anisimov should never play first line center. He is a second line center max and should be playing on the third line for maximum potential this upcoming season.
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Never?
That seems an extreme judgment for a 21 yr old.
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by George E. Ays on Jun 9, 2010 6:19 PM EDT up reply actions
definetly not yet…
I likely see him topping out as a good second line center also
by Ahmad Bradshaw on Jun 9, 2010 7:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Well yeah, that’s a quite probable scenario. Coming off a ppg season in the AHL at 20, and being fairly productive with limited ice time at 21….It’s just way too early to say he can never be a #1.
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by George E. Ays on Jun 9, 2010 8:56 PM EDT up reply actions
Awesome! I love it when shit goes down the day of a radio show!
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by Jim Schmiedeberg on Jun 9, 2010 4:43 PM EDT reply actions
I’m a little perturbed by this actually. There is a very slim chance that Stepan makes the Rangers outright. He’s too young to play in the AHL. So he will be going to the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL. Why leave college to play Canadian Juniors? Believe it or not, he would have benefited from a year in the NCAAs over the WHL.
Odd.
Why is he too young? He’s only 4 months younger than Grachev, who started playing in the AHL last year. You have to be twenty don’t you? Well Step turns 20 in like a week. No problems here, he can go to Hartford.
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by Scratch and Snif on Jun 9, 2010 4:52 PM EDT up reply actions
You have to be 21 to play in the AHL unless you are a European drafted player. Grachev was the exception, not the rule.
Why is going to Juniors for a year so bad? I know there is a big debate about juniors vs. college, but if Stepan is as good as people seem to be saying, it shouldn’t matter, no?
Do you think it will hurt his development that much? just asking b/c I have no idea.
by NTB on Jun 9, 2010 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions
It’s just surprising to see him leave college, which is generally regarded as a step up from juniors, mostly because of the size difference, to not be guaranteed a sport on the NHL club. He can’t play in the AHL yet, so it’s just very surprising.
Are you sure? I was under the impression he would be old enough for the AHL. Do you have a source that clears it up? I couldn’t find much on theAHL.com.
if found this
There is a private agreement in place between the NHL and the CHL that governs when a player coming from the CHL can play in the AHL. A player from the CHL has to either turn 20 by December 31st of the season (ie a player born in 1987 can start playing in the 2007-08 season, a player born in 1988 can start playing in the 2008-09 season etc.) OR have completed 4 seasons of junior eligibility. This agreement also covers European players if they are drafted out of the CHL (Examples would be players like Petr Vrana and Ivan Vishnevskiy). Also – CHL players are eligible to play in the AHL once their junior season is over (either by virtue of their junior team not making the playoffs or being eliminated from the playoffs) even if they don’t yet meet the age or eligibility criteria listed above.
College players and European players (provided they are drafted out of Europe—even if they later play in the CHL) are not covered by this agreement. They only have to abide by the AHL’s age requirement, which is that a player has to turn 18 by September 15 of any given season to be eligible to play. While you won’t see many 18-year olds in the AHL, some European players have played at that age (e.g. Niklas Bergfors)
Nothing says powerplay like strobe lights and video game music.
by fromthe51hate on Jun 9, 2010 5:46 PM EDT up reply actions
stick tap to the ratsgirl on HFBoards for this above. Was from 2007…
Nothing says powerplay like strobe lights and video game music.
by fromthe51hate on Jun 9, 2010 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions
I talked to Laurie, she said this:
“Age rule only applies if you were playing in Canadian Juniors at time you were drafted. Stepan wasn’t. Also, 20 not 21.”
Stepan can play in the AHL. I was wrong (yes, I know, it happens every now and then).
Oh cool… This is awesome then… wewt! Best news all day!
Nothing says powerplay like strobe lights and video game music.
by fromthe51hate on Jun 9, 2010 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Third/Fourth Line Center
People people please pump the breaks – the expectations for this kid are rising as fast as the comments are coming in for this thread…
1) Stepan is a good two or three years away from being a capable second line center. His size is something he needs to have time to work on, and in all honesty Drury and Dubinsky out-rank him to begin with.
2) Off-topic, but the suggestions that Anisimov can center the first line are also a stretch. He did great in his ROOKIE season as a third/fourth line guy – something Stepan should follow.
3) In my mind, here is how I would rank the Ranger centers at the moment (excluding Jokinen):
- Drury
- Dubinsky
- Anisimov
- Stepan
Dubinsky’s potential obvious far out ranks Drury, but as of right now those are the top guys. While Stepan is a great prospect and should have a fine career, he is no Crosby or Tavares.
Also, for what its worth, Stepan statistically projects to be a 32-38 point guy with a points ceiling of 40-50. Many of you might argue with this, but what I can tell you that more often than not the projections (using league translations) are true.
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edit: prospal over drury. that is all.
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They don’t call him Rob “Pissing on your charcoal” Luker for nothing! LMAO!
Just kidding, Rob you make perfect sense, as usual, Ranger fans just need hope, and this is a glimpse of it.
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by Jim Schmiedeberg on Jun 9, 2010 6:12 PM EDT up reply actions
Nice Jim!
As usual I do take the pessimistic side. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m excited Stepan signed and its a step in the right (or “youth”) direction for NYR. If McDonagh signs I’ll be even more excited so that way he can just outplay Redden off the roster ha ha.
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On the equivalency
He’s already coming off a season where his NHLe rates him at 44.28 points. How for thou getting his ceiling is below that?
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by George E. Ays on Jun 9, 2010 6:17 PM EDT up reply actions
NHL equivalency. For the NCAA, it’s 0.41.
http://www.behindthenet.ca/translations.html
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by George E. Ays on Jun 9, 2010 6:28 PM EDT up reply actions
54 pts in 41 games is 108 in 82.
108 * .41 = 44.28
It’s not perfect with Stepan, since he is more of a ‘playmaker’ and doesn’t score alot of goals, so for him to keep pace, he’ll likely need talented linemates capable of driving the offense.
Nonetheless, I’m highly curious where Rob got the projections of a 32-38 pt guy, unless he’s only talking about this year.
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by George E. Ays on Jun 9, 2010 6:32 PM EDT up reply actions
Heh, maybe one day.
I know little about how the prospects play, and raw numbers are just that, raw. I mean, AA came off a decent AHL season, and he finished below what I saw projected for him:
http://www.puckprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=337
That’s a little more in depth as it has age factors, but it’s only about AHL to NHL. I haven’t looked for a study otherwise.
You’re still better off reading anything Laurie has to say on them then a couple number posts.
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by George E. Ays on Jun 9, 2010 6:57 PM EDT up reply actions
I just finished the post actually. It’s purely numbers based, and I’m sure to say that. Interestingly enough, it’s not who you think it is at the top of the list.
It also doesn’t take into account playing time, which was one of AA’s biggest issues, he barely played.
I made sure to include three paragraphs about how each number should be taken with a grain of salt. It will be posted tomorrow at 1:30pm EST.
me too
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by George E. Ays on Jun 9, 2010 8:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Incidentally
I believe it’s Werek on top the list.
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by George E. Ays on Jun 9, 2010 8:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Whoops. He had lead our 2009 class, that’s what I remembered. Oh well, I won’t keep guessing and spoil the fun.
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by George E. Ays on Jun 9, 2010 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Well
If we count MZA…he was around 70-75 if I remember correctly. If someone’s above him, that’d be something, and I wonder why he’s not here.
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by George E. Ays on Jun 9, 2010 8:32 PM EDT up reply actions
I counted him, it’s not him. The person above him actually illustrates why this stat shouldn’t be relied on as the be all, end all.
Hmm..intriguing. I can wait though.
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by George E. Ays on Jun 9, 2010 8:53 PM EDT up reply actions
Nah
AHL is only 0.41. So to get to 70 NHLe pts, either would have to have put up a 170 pt season. So, no.
It has to be someone obscure from either the Russian/Swedish/Czech leagues. I don’t know enough of those prospects to know quickly who, clearly Dave’s got himself some quick sources/databases.
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by George E. Ays on Jun 9, 2010 9:05 PM EDT up reply actions
Actually
Smurf, just FYI because we both believe in the numbers, you should note this paragraph at the top of the translations explained by Gabe…
With so little data, the best quantity to compare is a player’s Point-Per-Game rate (PPG). The difficulty of a league relative to the NHL can be determined by dividing the PPG that a player had in that league in one year by the PPG he had in the NHL the next year, or vice-versa.
It’s a small difference, but the equivalences are based on PPG, not overall points. So, for this past season, Stepan had a PPG of 1.32. Multiply that by 0.41 and that yields 0.54 ppg in the NHL, or 44.37 points over 82 games.
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That looks like rounding to me
His actually PPG is 1.3170…, which multiplied by .41 gives you the 44.28.
You can do it either way.
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by George E. Ays on Jun 9, 2010 9:08 PM EDT up reply actions
true
you took it over 82 games either way, so it’s irrelevant anyways.
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Avg PPG over the career
Stepan played two seasons at Wisconsin with an average of 1.07 PPG in his career. If you multiply this by 0.41, you get 0.4397 PPG in the NHL, or an average season production of 35.9 points. The range I gave is just an estimate as to what I think the numbers will yield. As you know, the NHLe numbers are more often right than wrong.
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Yeah, average knocks it down…but clearly you have to account for a natural progression as one ages into their prime.
So yes, his career numbers indicate a lower number when combined, but going from 27 NHLeP at age 18 up to 44 at age 19, he could develop into something quite nice.
What I’m told by people smarter than me though is that the NHLe stuff is more accurate when there’s a more even G:A ratio, as it’s a better indicator that the player can drive an offense himself. So Stepan coming may need help to make his numbers project correctly.
I agree with the principle…it’s not time to start handing this guy the Hart and Art Ross trophies, he’s going to need time. I love the idea of him playing with Grachev next year.
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by George E. Ays on Jun 9, 2010 9:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Exactly
That’s why you have to adjust the European PPG ratio because the IIHF is much more stricter than the NHL when it comes to handing out second assists.
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I’d be happy if Stepan turned out like fellow Badger Joe Pavelski, although Pavelski scored more goals in college.
by NTB on Jun 9, 2010 6:30 PM EDT up reply actions
YES!
Excellent news!
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not sure one of the hockey rumor blogs, was trying to find it.
by Kmp on Jun 9, 2010 7:29 PM EDT up reply actions
My two cents
First off.
I don’t understand why fans always impose timetables on players. Only the coaching staff will know for certain how ready a player will be.
Stepan could go to training camp and excel, forcing the coaches to keep him in New York.
I don’t understand why everyone thinks 20 is too young. There are dozens of kids playing in the NHL now, let alone the AHL. In my opinion, as I’ve stated all along, the Rangers DO NOT need to spend money on a center. Let’s see what we have here already.
Build from the goalie out, so improve the defense, play all of these young forwards.
Just look at MDZ for comparison.
Lundqvist-Staal-MDZ-McDonagh-Krieder-Stepan-MZA-Cally-Dubi-Gabby-AA-Grachev-Prust
The core of the 2014 Stanley Cup winners!
by 76 Blueshirt on Jun 10, 2010 10:32 AM EDT up reply actions
Not contenders anyway
I know some of you love to play with numbers but I think we shoud just give the kid a good chance to prove himself next year. Don’t forget, we’re not gonna be contenders next year anyway so it’s time we work on our core group of promising prospects. Maybe Stepan is gonna break out and be a star in this league, maybe he’s not but we’ll never know until we give him a REAL shot. If it doesn’t work out, we should try next year again with Gravchev, Kreider, Hagelin, maybe Werek(if he doesn’t get injured), and this years’s prospect (Nino :-) Btw I think we should give Sanguinetti a real shot too, it can only improve his value to play NHL games..
great news
I’m glad to hear it. This will help his development, and i think it will help grachev too. Now hopefully Mcdonaugh doesn’t pull a douche bag move and wait it out to sign with another team.
by Rags to riches? on Jun 10, 2010 7:16 PM EDT reply actions
It's terrific news!
I am ready to see the Rangers make the move towards he and Krieder being third and fourth liners for this season. MZA will be added to whichever line Anisimov centers and Prust plays on; which leads me to think Callahan will wing with the two Americans. That said, look for the line of Dubi, Dru, and Gabby at the top.
Dubinsky – Drury – Gaborik
Prust – Anisimov – Zucharello Aasen
Krieder – Stepan – Callahan
Shelley – Christensen – Weise
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No one’s said anything about Kreider signing this year, have they? Isn’t he only a rising sophomore?
no
Kreider is staying in college as he should. and i don’t think stepan is going right to the pro’s either. he looks good but i think he will need at least 1 full season in the minors.
by Rags to riches? on Jun 11, 2010 4:48 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah Stephan and Grachev are going to have to really put on some jaw dropping performances for them to make the team this year. Zuccarello Aasen probably will make the team but he still has to prove himself. As for Krieder he’s definitely going to be back at BC. The brass made a point of him taking two years there and he should have both years, he is not even close to being ready. If McDonagh signs he would have a better chance of making the team then Stephan although he will most likely end up in Hartford. Look for Weise, Byers, Dupont, Sanguinetti, and Potter to crack the line up this season and I guess we can throw in Gilroy with them as well. Those are the guys most likely to make the team.
by CrazyRangerFan on Jun 11, 2010 5:49 PM EDT up reply actions
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