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.