Where Rangers stand on four key players as arbitration hits

The next step in negotiations for the Rangers and their large group of restricted free agents took place Thursday, when forwards Kevin Hayes, Jimmy Vesey and Ryan Spooner, along with defenseman Brady Skjei, filed for salary arbitration before the 5 p.m. deadline.

It’s unlikely any of them will get to an actual arbitration hearing, but if so, a third party will hear the cases from both sides and make a ruling on either one- or two-year deals.

In the past, the Rangers have managed to get a new deal done before reaching the hearing. The most recent time any Blueshirts went through with it were Sean Avery and Nikolay Zherdev in 2007.

All four Rangers who filed are still able to be traded and that is where the most intrigue lies, especially with Hayes. The 26-year-old center could fetch quite a bit in return, and that could save the Rangers from having to give him a long-term deal at market value, around a $6 million annual salary-cap hit. Spooner, the 26-year-old who came to the Rangers in the February deadline deal that sent Rick Nash to Boston, also could draw some outside interest, especially as part of a package deal.

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General manager Jeff Gorton is more apt to try to lock up Skjei on a long-term deal. The 24-year-old has shown glimpses of being an elite defenseman, but had a difficult 2017-18 season — as did a lot of players on the Rangers, who declared their decision to rebuild in a letter to the fans on Feb. 8. It also makes sense Gorton would give Vesey a short-term deal to allow the 25-year-old a chance to bounce back after a disappointing second NHL season.

Now that the four have filed, they are considered to be signed players. That only means they can’t receive the rarely used offer sheet from another team, which would put the Rangers in a tough spot, either having to match the offer or get some sort of compensation in return. The most recent time an NHL offer sheet was signed was by Ryan O’Reilly in 2013, and the most recent time an offer wasn’t matched by the original team was Dustin Penner in 2007.

Three Rangers RFA’s with arbitration rights — John Gilmour, Rob O’Gara and Boo Nieves — did not file. They were given qualifying offers, meaning if they turn them down, the Rangers still retain their negotiating rights. The Rangers can also file for arbitration against them by Friday at 5 p.m., although it doesn’t seem advantageous either way.