How far apart Rangers, Ryan Lindgren are in contract talks as they try to avoid arbitration tension

The Rangers and Ryan Lindgren are in continued contractual negotiations ahead of the restricted free-agent defenseman’s scheduled arbitration hearing on Friday, industry sources have told The Post. 

It is believed that the club is looking for a shorter-term deal in the length of two-to-three seasons while the 26-year-old Lindgren is seeking a deal for four or five seasons. It is also believed that the Blueshirts are offering between $4 million and $4.25 million per year while No. 55 is seeking up to $5M per. 

Lindgren has only one year to go before becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency. We’re told that it is possible that the club and the left-matchup defenseman could reach agreement on a one-year contract ahead of arbitration. This would allow the parties to reset and resume negotiations for a long-term deal on Jan. 1, as per the collective bargaining agreement. If unfulfilled, Lindgren would go onto the open market next summer. 

Arbitration hearings are adversarial procedures. Team management unambiguously is obligated to point out flaws in the player’s game. Nothing good ever comes of these. 

The Rangers haven’t gone through an arbitration hearing since 2009, when they walked away from Nikolai Zherdev after the winger was awarded $3.9M for one year when the club had argued the 24-year-old was worth no more than his $3.25M qualifier after his first (and only) season on Broadway concluded with John Tortorella behind the bench that made for a dicey coexistence. 

That’s not this at all. Lindgren is the consummate teammate and the personification of a heart-and-soul Ranger. He follows in the line of Dan Girardi and Adam Graves. He is as physical, combative and willing at his listed 6-foot, 190 as anyone who has ever worn the Blueshirt. He is one of the prizes of the 2018 deadline purge, acquired from the Bruins in the rental deal for Rick Nash. 

But management has to be cognizant of the wear-and-tear Lindgren’s body has already absorbed. There are the unknowns of the next contracts for Igor Shesterkin, K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere that will kick in 2025-26 when the cap increases from this season’s $88M to an expected approximate $92M. 

Again, it would be beneficial for both parties to avoid arbitration, where the arbiter can choose any number between the team’s and the player’s respective submissions. It’s not baseball. The Rangers could offer, say, $4.15M, Lindgren’s representatives could ask for $5.25M, and the award would likely be around $4.65M. 

Decisions are guided by numbers. Gaudy offensive stats help. That’s not Lindgren, who recorded 17 points (3-14) in 76 games a year ago while averaging 19:21 of ice per game. The Minnesota native has recorded 80 points (10-70) in 333 career NHL games. 

But here is a number that GM Chris Drury, head coach Peter Laviolette and the arbiter — if this gets to his desk — should take critical note of, and that is in the 4,279:42 of ice time that Lingren has been paired with Kemosabe Adam Fox since they joined forces in 2019-20, the Rangers have scored 200 goals and have allowed 136 for a 59.5 percent goals-for ratio. This is a partnership worth more than traditional offensive numbers, certainly for the Rangers 

The Blueshirts are thin on the blue line, with Lindgren, Miller and Zac Jones the top three on the left and Fox, Braden Schneider and Jacob Trouba on the right. It appears as if righty Chad Ruhwedel and lefties Matt Robertson, Brandon Scanlin and Ben Harpur will vie for the seventh spot. Drew Fortescue, a 19-year-old sophomore at Boston College, is probably the next prospect in line. 

The club currently has approximately $8.8M of cap space remaining on a shadow roster that features 11 forwards — including Sam Carrick but not Matt Rempe, Adam Edstrom or Jonny Brodzinski — and five defensemen and two goaltenders. 

Once the Rangers reach an agreement with Lindgren, Drury is expected to pick up negotiations with the camp for Shesterkin, who is seeking a record NHL goaltending contract with unrestricted free agency looming after this season.