Arbitration Dates Set: Nikolai Zherdev, Unlimited Potential Slipping Away?

Nikolai Zherdev is by far one of my favorite New York Rangers players. However, I'm going to try and push that to one side while I write this article, although that's not always easy.

As we wait for arbitration details on Nikolai Zherdev, and the chances of him returning to the Rangers start to dwindle, I started asking myself: How did we get to this situation? I searched the Internet high and low to try and find some answers.

I found a interesting quote from Rolland Hedges, Zherdev's agent that read: “We were hoping that New York wanted to negotiate with us. All we’ve had is a qualifying offer. It left us no alternative than to file for arbitration.”

Then comes Rangers General Manager Glen Sather's response: “We had several discussions with the Zherdev camp, but we’re now going through the arbitration process after he elected to file last week.”

Does this not sound like a complete breakdown in communications to anyone else? It seems that we have a situation here where Zherdev wants to stay in New York with the Rangers for a fair price. The Rangers want to keep him at their price. Here we stand, with the relationship frozen over.

So who do we believe here?

Do we believe the most unbelievable people in professional sports, the agents? Or do we believe the other least-believable people in sports, the management? As fans, we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

We know that Sather likes to do things his way, but we also know that Zherdev is not exactly an angel. He walked away from CSKA in 2002-03 halfway through the season to join the Columbus Blue Jackets and clashed more than once with the management, or more accurately the coaching system, in Columbus.

However, I hope that we, as a team, did try and negotiate with Zherdev; and if, after those attempts at negotiation, he and his agent remained adamant that their player was worth more than the Rangers were offering, then the situation we are in now was to be expected.

Arbitration hearings are never a good thing in professional sports: A player and his representatives stand and declare why their player deserves more than the qualifying offer extended to them, and then the team points out all the players' faults and why they should not receive more.

After the 2008 season, Zherdev signed a qualifying offer of $3.25 million coming off a 26-goal, 35-assist, 61-point season. So he was basically saying that was a fair price.

It seems that the Rangers extended him the same money this offseason, after he came off a 23-goal, 35-assist, 58-point season, a season in which he statistically came up short on his previous year. He also went scoreless in the final seven games of the regular season and failed to register a single point in the playoff series against the Washington Capitals.

Who will the arbitrators side with? I really don't know, but I think it will go Zherdev's way.

Zherdev has all the potential in the world. He has world class skills. He is extremely talented one-on-one, and he has the potential to be a 30-35-goal scorer in the league. However, he struggles with laziness, and I'm not sure if Zherdev is practising for a magic career after he finishes in pro hockey, but he sure can do a good Houdini impression.

I want to see him back with the Rangers. I like the guy. I think that we have a great goal-scorer in our midsts. He just needs to realize his own potential, and have hunger to succeed. If he does, under Tortorella he could be a great player in the league.

However, we may not have the cap room to carry him if the arbitrators find in his favor, after the signing of Gaborik and more recently Kotalik. We could have seen the end of Zherdev in NYC.

However, in defense of Zherdev, he seems like he wants to stay in New York. He would be able to earn more money in the KHL, but with questions surrounding his desire and hunger to be a success, it seems that he just wants to be treated with fair market value.

Unfortunately, at the moment, his assessment of his value and the Rangers' assessment are not the same. We will have to see how this one plays out, but this Rangers fan is hoping that Zherdev is with the Rangers come opening night.

The dates for the arbitration hearings have been set. Ryan Callahan will have his on July 23, and Zherdev will have his on July 31.

I fully expect us to reach a deal with Callahan before the July 23, and this gives Sather just over two weeks to decide what to do with Zherdev.

I will wrap up this article with a final quote from Rolland Hedges:

"

“To be fair, we haven’t played the Russian card,” Hedges said. “We can play in Russia tomorrow if we want to. We can make more money in Russia, no question; it’s nontaxable. But Nikolai Zherdev wants to play in the NHL. The only way he’ll go to Russia is if he’s not wanted in the NHL at fair market value. We just want to see what New York is prepared to pay on a fair-market-value basis.

“If we’re successful in arbitration and they want to walk away, then we’ll see what the fair market value will bring on the open market [in the NHL]. And if it doesn’t bring it, he can play in Russia. But it’s not his first option.”

"