Media Bytes: Much A-Drew About Nothing, Future of Fox & Gav, Checking in on Trocheck
Inside the Fortescue decision, the Fox and Gavrikov happiness question, and a wide-open debate about where the Rangers go from here.
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Much A-Drew About Nothing
1. Prior to their game against the Dallas Stars last Saturday, the New York Rangers made what initially looked like a contradictory decision: They healthy scratched rookie defenseman Drew Fortescue in a move that appeared to cost him an $80,000 bonus that would have been triggered by playing his 10th game of the season.
A vocal subsection of Rangers fans quickly seized on the move as evidence the organization was nickel-and-diming a young player, but that outrage may have been premature.
On Monday’s episode of Tri-State Hockey, Jonny Lazarus asked Arthur Staple to explain the decision and why it wasn’t vindictive, punitive, or about penny-pinching.
"This is very clearly service-time related and tied to offer sheets once he comes out of his entry-level contract," Staple said. "This contract stuff is complicated."
Staple explained that decisions like this often factor into how future contracts are structured.
"When his entry-level contract (ELC) is done and you see him sign his next deal—whether it's a bridge deal or something long-term—there might be one of those 10-games-played bonuses for $100K or $200K in the first year, and we can all think back to this," he said, illustrating how situations like this often get made up for later.
Staple also pushed back on the idea that the Rangers were trying to shortchange Fortescue.
"This is not them trying to screw him and set up a confrontation in the first two weeks of his NHL career," he said. "The money part is the headline, but the true nature of it is making sure he's not eligible for an offer sheet in a few years."
If anything, the move may have been less about saving money and more about protecting the Rangers from a future headache.
