Girardi and the Rangers were close on a contract extension Friday that would take the 29-year-old off the market, according to Sportsnet's John Shannon and Larry Brooks of the New York Post.

Later in the day, Girardi has indeed sign for six years and a $5.5 million salary cap hit, according to multiple reports. There's no way he would've gotten less in the summer, so New York's choice was either sign him to this deal or not sign him at all.

Girardi's best season came in 2011-12, and he hasn't quite reached that level since, but he remains a legitimate top-four defenseman and makes up the lesser half of New York's top pairing, along with Ryan McDonagh.

Earlier in negotiations, Girardi was looking for a long-term deal worth about $5.5 million annually, and that would be reasonable enough for both sides, given what he'd get on the open market.

The end result: New York gets a few reasonably priced years out of a solid-enough player. Given the physical nature of Girardi's game, he may not age well — but as he ages, the cap and cost for defensemen rises, too, so who knows. The other course of action: Don't sign him at all and use your money elsewhere.

This also means that McDonagh-Girardi will be a pair for the next several years. They're good together, but it's worth noting McDonagh's underlying numbers improve when he's not playing with Girardi: this season, New York has taken 56.2 percent of all even-strength shot attempts when McDonagh is paired with someone other than Girardi, and 50.0 percent when they're together.

It remains less likely that Ryan Callahan and the Rangers agree on their own extension. Callahan, 28, is reportedly looking for seven years and about $45 million, which is understandably enough to make the Rangers balk. Callahan, like Girardi, was headed for unrestricted free agency in the summer.


ESPOSITO TRASHES TRADE RUMOR


Phil Esposito made a lot of trades when he was GM of the Rangers and, later, the Lightning. He knows how that game is played.

He also knows that tabloid media like to stir the pot with trade rumors, especially when the deadline is approaching (this year's is March 5 ... hey, next week).

All of that provides context for Espo's classic rant Thursday on the "Next Sports Star" studio show. He was commenting on a New York Post report that the Rangers have tried to acquire Martin St. Louis from the Bolts for captain Ryan Callahan.

"What a bunch of (crap)," Esposito said. (Inside info alert: Espo is a radio commentator for the Lightning, the franchise he helped found more than 20 years ago.)

Anyway, we continue:

"Some (a-hole) in New York that writes for the New York Post, and we all know who he is (longtime hockey writer Larry Brooks), decided, 'Let me put something out there so maybe we can start some controversy.' It's a bunch of (crap). It's been going on for as long as I've been in the game of hockey (that would be more than 50 years) ..."

Asked further about Brooks' reporting, Esposito beautifully one-timed the feed.

"Don't give me this (crap) you're going to trade Marty St. Louis, who has a no-movement clause, he doesn't want to leave, for Callahan, who's a kid, I like him, he's a heart-and-souler, but he couldn't score more  than 25 or 30 goals in his f-ing lifetime, and he doesn't play all the time because he gets hurt, because he plays like he's 6-foot-5."

(Callahan is listed at 5-11.)

Esposito went on to explain how such a rumor might have gotten started, again with more than a pinch of salty language. If you dare to listen, the whole spot is NSFW, with a capital NSFW.

Contributors: Sean Gentille, Tom Gatto