The New York Rangers are set to go to arbitration with centre Mika Zibanejad on Tuesday unless the two sides can reach a contract agreement before that.

Larry Brooks of the New York Post believes that if the Rangers can reach a four or five-year contract with the 24-year-old, it will likely hold a cap hit of roughly $5.25 million per year. He believes an arbitrator would award Zibanejad roughly $4.75 million on a one-year deal. 

After their hearing, the arbitrator will have 48 hours to reach a decision and the Rangers and Zibanejad will have until then to reach a contract of their own.

Zibanejad scored 14 goals and added 23 assists in 56 games last season. He added two goals and nine points in 12 playoff games as the Rangers were eliminated in the second round by the Ottawa Senators. 

The 2011 first-round pick scored a career-high 21 goals and 51 points in 81 games during the 2015-16 while playing with the Senators.

With Derek Stepan being traded to the Arizona Coyotes earlier this off-season, Zibanejad is expected to take over the Rangers top-line centre in October. He averaged 17:04 of time on ice per game during the regular season and then 17:53 in the postseason - just over three minutes less than Stepan.