New York Rangers Analysis: Is Dubinsky Asking For Over $5 Million A Year?

This morning I posted a story citing Jesse Spector saying that the New York Rangers negotiations with Brandon Dubinsky had hit a wall because of the years of the deal. Now Larry Brooks is reporting it's the money. From his article:

Dubinsky, the 25-year-old winger, led the team in goals, assists and points last year (24-30-54) and ranks second in each category (44-54-98) behind Marian Gaborik (64-70-134) over the past two years. He is believed to be seeking in the neighborhood of $5 million to $5.25 million per year on a long-term deal while the Rangers are believed to be offering approximately $500,000 less per season.

These negotiations suddenly became even messier than before. Dubinsky is looking for over  $5 million a year? I love Dubinsky as much as the next guy, I think he's a valuable member of this organization and I believe that he is a complete package. He can only get better with time, and he's one of the prized jewels from the Rangers' farm system. But right now he is not worth $5.25 million a-year.

This is another one of those scenarios in which Glen Sather needs to stick to his guns. Brooks speculates that if the two sides go to arbitration a deal would come in between $3.8 million and $4.4 million. If the Rangers are offering $4.5 million over a five-year pact (which is around what they are according to Brooks) then Dubinsky needs to ink that contract.

If this report is true then you have to applaud Glen Sather here. It doesn't matter that Dubinsky is home grown, he simply isn't worth a $5.25 million cap hit. Especially with Ryan Callahan's agent eagerly watching these negotiations to see what his client will be getting.

Sather worked the Brad Richards contract to be a friendly $6.77 million cap hit. Richards took less money to be a Ranger. If Sather gives in to Dubinsky's demands then he's throwing $750,000 (assuming Sather has offered a $4.5 million deal) of the roughly $1 million cap hit he saved with Richards back into a single player. Rather than being able to use that money for Steve Eminger.

Looks like we are probably heading for arbitration after all.