NYR: Tyler Arnason Signing

By Glen Miller

First, some breaking news: according to the Rangers official website, Glen Sather has announced that the club has agreed to terms on a new deal with RFA Forward Ryan Callahan. Callahan is coming off of a career year in which he established career highs in goals (22), assists, (18), points (40) and PIM’s (45). He also led the Blue Shirts in hits with 265, which placed Callahan 4^th overall in the NHL.

Steve Zipay of NewsDay.com in his blog, Blue Notes, confirmed that the deal is for two years. He guesses that the value of the contract is in the neighborhood of $1.8 million annually which would be a good deal for both the club and the player. After making $600,000 last season, Callahan would be tripling his salary if Zipay is correct in his guess. Meanwhile, the Rangers would be locking up one of their better young players for two years at a rate significantly lower than fellow RFA, Mikail Grabovski was given to re-sign in Toronto. Grabovski was given a 3 year deal worth $2.9 million per season to re-up with the Leafs. More on Callahan later.

Update: the salary is $2.2 million in year 1 and $2.4 million in year 2. That’s a cap hit of $2.3 million in each of the next two years.

The real purpose of this blog was to discuss the Rangers signing of UFA Center Tyler Arnason, formerly of the Colorado Avalanche, Ottawa Senators and Chicago Blackhawks. Yes, I realize the signing was reported way back on July 3^rd so I am late getting to this. The reason I hadn’t commented on this move before was because of how inconsequential this move is. With Chris Drury, Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov and Brian Boyle expected to be the 4 Centers on the ice for the Rangers come October, there isn’t any room for Arnason with the Rangers. Now he also has experience playing on the wing but the Rangers are pretty stocked there too with newcomers Chris Higgins, Marian Gaborik, Ales Kotalik and Donald Brashear joining a group that already included Ryan Callahan and Sean Avery and the possible promotion of youngsters Dane Byers and Evgeni Grachev.

Basically, Arnason needs to be on a scoring line to be of any use in the NHL and the Rangers have plenty of Forwards to occupy spots on the scoring lines. Arnason will likely only see time on Manhattan in the event of an injury to one of the Rangers top 6 forwards. At that point, his signing might prove to be relevant.

I have been on a number of hockey sites and have seen numerous comments installing Arnason as a 4^th liner on the Rangers squad. I hate to be a buzz kill but I don’t foresee that possibility taking shape out of camp. If you want some reasons why just take a look at his numbers over the last 5 seasons, which encompasses his time with the Avalanche, the Sens and the final season-and-a-half with the Hawks.

2003/2004 – 82GP 22G 33A 55Pts

2005/2006 – 79GP 13G 32A 45Pts

2006/2007 – 82GP 16G 33A 49Pts

2007/2008 – 70GP 10G 21A 31Pts

2008/2009 – 71GP 5G 17A 22Pts

The key to these stats is the noticeable decline in his offensive output in the last two seasons. Once, Arnason was a highly regarded young player with the Hawks. It was thought that Arnason would develop into a solid second-line Center capable of posting 60 points per season. Now, at the age of 30, Arnason is probably destined to a role of organization filler; a journeyman type that sticks in the AHL and gets some call-ups to the NHL to fill in for injuries. It is unlikely that he will ever again earn a role as a second liner on a regular basis.

When writing up the moves that were made so far this off-season by the Rangers, I didn’t include Arnason since I felt he wouldn’t be a regular for the big club. That’s not to say that he may not play an important role for this organization; it is hoped that he can work with the younger Rangers prospects in Hartford and show them what it takes to be an NHL’er.