Newday's Steve Zipay reported on Sunday that Rangers winger Nikolai Zherdev was awarded $3.9 million in his Friday arbitration hearing. This most likely signals the end of the speedy forward's short run on Broadway.
The Blueshirts initially qualified Zherdev at 1 year/$3.25 million and were not interested in paying anything more, while Zherdev was seeking over $4 million a year.
$3.9 million is a lot of money for an inconsistent, unpredictable player who has shown no signs of fitting in John Tortorella's system. New York will most likely pass up on re-signing him, making him an unrestricted free agent. They also could sign Zherdev and trade him before the season starts to get something back for losing him. Zherdev is a very talented player, and I'm sure there is a general manager out there willing to give up a draft pick to try to help him find his game.
It is tough for me to state that I do not want a guy as talented as Zherdev, who the Rangers gave up Fedor Tyutin for, back at Madison Square Garden this fall. But just like with Lauri Korpikoski, all that matters is if a player fits with the team. If he does not, he needs to go, even if it means he has great success somewhere else.
If Zherdev stays, his talents will be lost to Tortorella's system while taking up a big chunk of the salary cap, so the best thing for both he and the Rangers is that he either becomes an unrestricted free agent or is traded before the season begins.
UPDATE: Zipay (the best Rangers beat reporter by far) is now reporting that Toronto is very interested in Zherdev, and is talking with the Rangers about trading for him. New York has until noon today (Tuesday) to decide if they want to accept Zherdev's arbitration award or reject it making him an unrestricted free agent.
Here is a higlight reel of the winger below:
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