Between July 20th and August 4th, the NHL with go through its annual arbitration period. This is when a restricted free agent who has earned enough experience can go to a mediator to plead their case for a better salary based on their on-ice performance, as well as comparable players/contracts. This can be a double-edged sword or sorts for both the player and his respective hockey club. The player feels that he has exceeded expectations and is looking for a bump in pay, however, the club is generally looking to save on this aspect of free agency and splurge on available free agents, and could lead to a strain on the relationship between player and general manager.
This year, 24 players have selected to go to arbitration. The list is as follows, with their current contract term and average annual value (AAV):
Arizona Coyotes
Michael Stone – current contract: 3 years, $1,150,000
Colorado Avalanche
Tyson Barrie – current contract: 1 year, $2,600,000
Mikhail Grigorenko – current contract: 1 year, $675,000
Detroit Red Wings
Jared Coreau – Pre-Arbitration Settlement: 1 year, $612,000
Danny DeKeyser – current contract: 2 years, $2,187,500
Petr Mrazek* – current contract: 1 year, $737,500
Minnesota Wild
Jordan Schroeder – current contract: 2 years, $600,000
Nashville Predators
Calle Jarnkrok – current contract: 1 year, $735,000
Petter Granberg – current contract: 1 year, $600,000
New York Rangers
Kevin Hayes – current contract: 2 years, $900,000
Chris Kreider – current contract: 2 years, $2,475,000
Dylan McIlrath – current contract: 1 year, $600,000
Jonathan Miller – current contract: 1 year, $874,000
New Jersey Devils
Kyle Palmieri – Pre-Arbitration Signing: 5 years, $4,650,000
Ottawa Senators
Mike Hoffman – current contract: 1 year, $2,000,000
Philadelphia Flyers
Brandon Manning – current contract: 1 year, $625,000
Brayden Schenn – current contract: 2 years, $2,500,000
Jordan Weal – current contract: 1 year, $632,500
St. Louis Blues
Jaden Schwartz – current contract: 2 years, $2,350,000
Tampa Bay Lightning
Alex Killorn – current contract: 2 years, $2,550,000
Vladislav Namestnikov – current contract: 1 year, $874,000
Toronto Maple Leafs
Frank Corrado – current contract: 1 year, $632,000
Peter Holland – current contract: 1 year, $700,000
Martin Marincin – current contract: 2 years, $775,000
Washington Capitals
Marcus Johansson – current contract: 1 year, $3,750,000
*Mrazek was the only player that the club (Detroit Red Wings) elected to take the player to arbitration. The Red Wings are likely using arbitration as a bargaining chip to sign the netminder to a possible bridge contract of 4-5 years as he is certainly making his case to become the team’s starting goalie.
Due to Tyson Barrie commanding a significant raise, rumors have been swirling around the possibility of the Avalanche trying to move the defenceman. In doing so, it appears that Colorado could be looking at potentially parting ways with one of their star players, such as Gabriel Landeskog or Matt Duchene, in the event Barrie signs a new deal with the team. Luckily for them, having Nathan MacKinnon on their roster might not make such a move sting as much.
The Detroit Red Wings were able to unload the contract of Pavel Datsyuk, and came up short in the Steven Stamkos Sweepstakes, leaving them plenty of room to settle with their free agents before the arbitration process is complete.
The New York Rangers have been rumored to be looking to move Rick Nash, and even retaining some of his salary in a trade would at least make room for Chris Kreider to reach a new deal or extension.
Mike Hoffman has turned out to be quite the player for the Ottawa Senators and I cannot foresee him leaving any time soon.
I would expect the St. Louis Blues to work with Jaden Schwartz on a new contract due to the departure of captain David Backes.
Depending on what Nikita Kucherov commands in his new deal, Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman could be looking at $6 million dollars or less to get deals done with Alex Killorn, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Nikita Nesterov, who did not elect to file for arbitration.
A majority of arbitration cases do not see the full process. In most cases, an agreement is reached before the hearing. These cases tend to have “cat and mouse,” effect where the team looks to find a happy medium with the player that they are comfortable with. During the previous off-season, 25 players had elected to file arbitration and only 3 players completed the process.
Stats have been compiled from generalfanager.com and nhlpa.com
