The last of the big restricted free agents is now off the market, as the New York Rangers have finally come to terms with forward Derek Stepan. The agreement is reportedly a 2-year bridge deal, worth approximately $3.075 million per season.
Stepan was one of the best pool players in the shortened 2013 season, finishing the season with 44 points (18 goals and 26 assists) in all 48 games for the Rangers, which finished him 34th overall, 22nd among all forwards. If you went by last year's numbers, Stepan could have been considered a high to mid-round draft pick in this year's hockey pool draft.
This season, I think he'll have a pretty good year, not quite the same pace of scoring though, but still pretty good. I have him projected at a very formidable 70 points, which would have had him in the first few rounds for sure.
Thanks to the contract status, Stepan dropped down to the 6th round, as Grant took him 135th overall, just behind his restricted free agent holdout comrade, Cody Franson, who signed today as well.
What does this mean for Grant? Well, good things. On my projection list, this bumps Grant up significantly, moving up to a projected 715 points, which puts him in a tie for 5th place with Chris. Grant also moves up in the cap hit department, also moving up to 5th place in the pool, as his team is now worth $58.075 million in cap space. Of course, cap space has no actual bearing on this pool, it's just a statistic worth noting.
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