John Dellapina at The Blueshirts Blog says now that we're in 2008 the time to sign Henrik Lundqvist to a long term deal is now..."...Not only did 2007 turn to 2008 at midnight last night, but the NHL CBA mandated a change in how it views any contract extensions or new deals. During calendar ‘07, they would be averaged back into this season, potentially hiking a team’s payroll for cap purposes...In other words, the Rangers now can sign Henrik Lundqvist to the long-term deal that was impossible last summer when they were planning their major dive into the free agent pool....
...I just spoke with Meehan (Lundqvist's agent), who said he and Sather have an understanding to sit down right after the World Junior Championship and get down to hammering out a long-term deal for Lundqvist..."
In Dellapina's related story in the Daily News today he adds...
"...'My guess,' agent Don Meehan told the Daily News Tuesday, 'is that Henrik will be under contract to the New York Rangers by the end of this month.'...
...Sather and Meehan are old friends who talk frequently. And since there never was any prohibition on their negotiating a new deal for Lundqvist, they've kept in constant touch on the matter...
...'We've had discussions, surely,' Meehan said. 'Because I think it's important for a player of this magnitude that everybody understands where they're coming from.'...
...this deal will obviously be done sooner rather than later. The last thing the Rangers want is to insult Lundqvist by dragging negotiations on too long. If he feels disrespected, he could decide to test the free agent market, where I'm sure he will have piles of money thrown at him.
...thinking about the contract negotiations actually could be the reason Lundqvist's game has sagged a bit lately. Maybe he's worried that he might suffer a serious injury by playing too hard thus losing millions of dollars. I know that's a stretch, but you never know.
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