Having come to terms with restricted free agents Michael
Sauer and Artem Anisimov the Rangers will look to finalize contracts with Ryan
Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky and Brian Boyle before their respective arbitration
dates. Andrew Gross
is reporting that talks between the Rangers and Boyle are continuing,
though nothing is imminent. Crossing
Boyle off the list next would make sense as he should be another short term
deal and it would allow them to focus on the longer, more complicated contracts
for Callahan and Dubinsky.
Pegging a number on Boyle is more difficult than it was for
Sauer or Anisimov given his age and only having the one good year at the NHL
level, but I would expect it to be a one year deal somewhere around $1.6
million. Though, as I wrote yesterday, if no deal is done before the hearing, Boyle would be the most likely of all the restricted free agents for the Rangers to walk away from.
