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.