Derek Stepan downplayed the impact of him missing most of the preseason. Stepan was holding out as a restricted free agent, but signed a two-year/$6.15 million contract on Thursday. "I'm not far off," Stepan said. "There are going to be some times where I need to catch up a little bit, but I don't think I'm that far off." Stepan added that there wasn't any bitterness between the two sides. He might get off to a bit of a slow start due to this ordeal, but at least he didn't miss any regular season games.

Derek Stepan's two-year contract is worth $6.15 million. According to ESPN's Katie Strang, Stepan will fly out to New York tonight and meet up with his teammates once they get back from their West coast preseason road trip.

Derek Stepan has reportedly inked a two-year contract with the New York Rangers worth a little over $3 million per year. Stepan led the Rangers in scoring last season with 44 points in 48 games. He also finished second on the club with 18 goals, while serving as their first-line center. His contract holdout cost him most of training camp, but at least now he has some time to properly prepare before the regular season begins.

Rangers GM Glen Sather heavily criticized restricted free agent Derek Stepan's agent as Stepan continues to holdout. "l don't think Derek is going to let this linger that long, I don't think he's a big enough fool to figure that, 'I'm going to sit out for the year and it's going to do my career any good,'" Sather said. That's part of a much larger statement on the issue and the fact that Sather feels the need to take his case to the public, probably isn't a good sign. The Rangers seem to be unwilling to concede to Stepan's reported demands on a two-year/$3.5 million contract, although it's believed they would agree to $3 million annually. That's not a large gap for a player that led the Rangers in scoring, so we still wouldn't rule out the possibility that one side caves before the start of the regular season.

TSN's Darren Dreger speculates that Derek Stepan is "unlikely" to be on New York's roster when the regular season begins. Dreger reports: "Sources say that Stepan remains locked on a bridge deal that would pay him $3.5 million per year, while New York would happily sign off on a two-year agreement at $3 million per." The Rangers don't have much room to squeeze Stepan under the cap, so they are going to save any cash that they can. The two sides don't appear to be very far apart, so hopefully they can work something out before his holdout stretches into the regular season.

The New York Rangers and Derek Stepan's contract negotiations are still dragging on. The restricted free agent has already missed a decent chunk of training camp, so at this point we're a little worried about him being a step behind the pack. Nothing appears to be imminent, but that can change quickly if either side decides to compromise further.

About $1 million reportedly separates the New York Rangers and Derek Stepan in their ongoing contract negotiations. Stepan is a restricted free agent and is consequently going to start missing preseason games. He is believed to be seeking a two-year/$7 million contract while the Rangers want him to sign for a little under $6 million over two seasons. The Rangers have very little cap room, so that might be part of the problem. Stepan led the 2013 Rangers with 44 points in 48 games.

Although neither side is sounding as if there is a crisis, the Derek Stepan contract negotiations are entering a new phase. The unsigned Stepan will now start to miss scrimmages and exhibition games and that usually does not bode well for a player's upcoming regular season performance. "Any player because of injury or contract issues or whatever consequences that doesn't start at the same time as his fellow teammates, he's got some catching up to do. It depends on individual, depends on the player, it depends on how far behind they are" said Ranger coach Alain Vigneault. Hopefully, Stepan can resolve his contract issues with the Rangers shortly. Otherwise, we would mark him down a round or two on our draft lists.

Derek Stepan and the New York Rangers are still talking about a new contract, but GM Glen Sather said there's nothing new to report with regard to the process. The Rangers are staying firm on their stance to give Stepan a shorter term "bridge" contract and Sather said that Nazem Kadri's recent deal with the Maple Leafs won't be a factor in their talks with Stepan. Kadri got $2.9 million per season from Toronto, but the Rangers only have about $2.1 million left in cap space.

Derek Stepan and the New York Rangers still haven't agreed to terms. Stepan won't attend the Rangers' training camp while he remains a restricted free agent. Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said he'll welcome Stepan "with open arms" when the matter is resolved, but it would still obviously be better if he was at the team's camp. "There's no doubt on that; we've got a whole new staff, some new teammates, you want everybody to start together to build that foundation, so we're all striving for the same goals," Vigneault said.