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Ryan Spooner Signs Two-Year Contract With New York Rangers

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The New York Rangers have avoided arbitration once again, this time signing Ryan Spooner to a two-year contract. Spooner was scheduled for an arbitration hearing on Saturday August 4th. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the deal will carry an average annual value of $4MM.

Spooner, 26, had just one year of restricted free agency remaining meaning that the Rangers have bought out one of his UFA seasons. That’s a different tact than was taken with Kevin Hayes, who signed for just one season and immediately became the target of trade speculation. Spooner, who only came to the Rangers a few months ago as part of the package exchanged for Rick Nash, actually fit into the lineup quite well and registered 16 points in 20 games down the stretch. While part of that is due to the increased role he was given on a team out of the playoff race, there has always been good offensive potential in Spooner just waiting to really be taken advantage of.

Even with the added year, Spooner will continue to be a trade possibility for the Rangers. As the team continues to try and get younger and faster, his pending unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2020 makes him a prime target as a deadline acquisition in February. Teams often like to get an extra year of control, but at $4MM we’ll have to wait and see what kind of market develops. Spooner isn’t recognized as a defensively responsible forward, though that may be overlooked with enough offensive production this season. If he’s given prime powerplay opportunities and is lined up at the wing in New York’s top-six, there is a very real chance he could surpass his career high of 49 points.

For New York, that would be a dream scenario as they look to cash in on as many assets as possible. Spooner, Hayes, Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider, Vladislav Namestnikov and Jimmy Vesey could all be valuable to the right buyer, and aren’t signed past the 2019-20 season. In fact, no forward on the roster except for Mika Zibanejad has a contract that extends for more than two years—not counting young players like Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil, who haven’t guaranteed themselves a spot just yet—meaning the Rangers are almost completely free of long-term commitments. That’s a key part of what could be a quick rebuild in New York, as they hope for the next generation of prospects to lead them back to the playoffs in short order.

With Spooner’s arbitration case resolved, the Rangers will receive a second buyout window in which they could potentially create even more cap flexibility by ridding themselves of Brendan Smith or Marc Staal. Both defensemen have declined rapidly in recent years, but are tough buyout candidates given their front-loaded contracts. More likely the Rangers will just ride out the next few years with them and hope they can attract a buyer near the end of their contracts (though both hold trade protection). While the team doesn’t expect to contend this season, the 2020-21 season may be a different story.

Miikka Salomaki Signs Two-Year Contract With Nashville Predators

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Teams aren’t waiting around for their arbitration hearings, as the Nashville Predators have joined Calgary this morning in signing one of their restricted free agents. Miikka Salomaki, who was scheduled for a hearing on August 2nd, has signed a two-year contract worth a total of $1.5MM.

Salomaki, 25, is one of several forwards who will be battling for playing time at the bottom of the Nashville roster. The Predators signed several veterans like Zac Rinaldo, Connor Brickley and Rocco Grimaldi, while still having plenty of youth in players like Eeli Tolvanen and Ryan Hartman. While his playing time isn’t guaranteed, Salomaki does give the team another inexpensive option to soak up fourth-line minutes while the Predators dish out big money to other parts of their roster. Amazingly, the team still has around $7.6MM in cap space for this season even after inking their final restricted free agent. The team looks ready to compete for the Stanley Cup again in 2018-19, and has plenty of room to make an in-season addition if necessariy.

Through 58 games with the team last season Salomaki recorded just eight points, but was used for his high energy and physical play. Ready to go into the corners against any defender, he won’t hurt you on the scoreboard despite not contributing much offensively either. That’s enough for a team like the Predators, who have plenty of offensive weapons to carry them through the game. That responsible defensive presence actually still may bring about a role for Salomaki on the team this season, especially given Tolvanen’s inexperience. At the very least he’ll be a reliable 13th forward on the club for almost league minimum.

Cody Ceci, Ottawa Senators Exchange Arbitration Filings

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With Garnet Hathaway re-signing this morning, the next player scheduled for an arbitration hearing is Cody Ceci of the Ottawa Senators. That meeting is on the books for Wednesday in Toronto, and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports on the filings from both sides. The Senators have filed a $3.35MM ask, while Ceci is looking for $6.0MM. As usual, the ruling will likely come down somewhere in the middle of those two numbers should they not come to an agreement in the next few days.

Ceci, 24, is a player that has drawn quite a lot of attention over the years due to his continual inclusion in trade negotiations. In almost every discussion about the Senators and their pursuit of a high-end player, Ceci has been part of a potential return. That inclusion has been derided by the analytical community at times given Ceci’s poor possession numbers, but he continues to be an extremely valued piece of the Ottawa blue line. In fact, he may be the team’s top option should Erik Karlsson be traded before the season begins. That would put an incredible amount of pressure on the young right-handed defenseman, who has failed to put up big offensive numbers despite obvious ability and huge opportunity over the past few years.

Logging more than 23 minutes a night in each of the past two seasons, Ceci has been deployed in a defensive role (usually alongside Dion Phaneuf, who is now part of the Los Angeles Kings organization) to balance some of the offensive starts given to Karlsson. Though that is certainly a limiting factor in Ceci’s offensive numbers, there are other warts in his game that hinder his impact for the team and keep him from really reaching the top echelon of defensemen in the NHL. Those numbers should also lead an arbitrator to rule for much less than the $6.0MM ask, though probably well above the team’s filing as well. Ceci earned just $2.8MM last season, and should get a nice raise either way.

The Senators will almost certainly choose a one-year contract for their young defenseman, as he is scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency after the 2019-20 season. Leaving with just a one-year deal will allow them to continue to negotiate with him as a restricted free agent next summer, and try to get him to re-sign long-term. Otherwise, he could hit the open market as a 26-year old and really cash in as a right-handed option. Even with his poor possession numbers, there are still many who see Ceci as a key defender for the Senators and one who could step into top-four minutes for many teams around the league.

Garnet Hathaway Avoids Arbitration

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Garnet Hathaway and the Calgary Flames were scheduled to hold an arbitration hearing today in Toronto, but will avoid the process and sign a one-year contract worth $850K. Hathaway had filed for $975K, while the team had countered with a league minimum $650K.

Hathaway, 26, will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this contract and finds himself in another battle for an NHL spot this fall. Undrafted, the big winger has played 99 regular season games for Calgary over the past three seasons and contributed 13 points in 2017-18. Now after the team has added players like Elias Lindholm, James Neal, Austin Czarnik and Derek Ryan, there may be even less opportunity for depth players like Hathaway to really make an impact at the highest level. If he does find himself on the NHL roster out of camp, it will likely be battling with someone like Curtis Lazar for playing time on the fourth line.

The Flames have now resolved all of their arbitration cases for this offseason, meaning a second buyout window will open for them later this week. The team still does have restricted free agent Noah Hanifin (and minor league player Hunter Shinkaruk) to re-sign, and only around $4.5MM in cap space. Should the team want to free up any with a buyout, really only Troy Brouwer would be a potential candidate though the team still seems to value his experience and physical presence.

Calgary is desperate to get back to the playoffs after an extremely disappointing 2017-18 season, and players like Hathaway will have to step up if the team faces injury this season. With other younger options like Dillon Dube and Spencer Foo pushing hard for a chance at the NHL level, it may be the last chance for Hathaway to show what he can do for the organization.

New York Rangers, Kevin Hayes Far Apart In Negotiations

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Given the number of unsigned restricted free agents that the New York Rangers had on their plate to begin the off-season, it’s impressive that they have already locked up the bulk of those young players without much issue. However, Ryan Spooner and Kevin Hayes still remain without an extension and are slated for a salary arbitration hearings later this week. It seems at least one of those cases is likely to make it through to the arbitrator’s decision, as the New York Post’s Larry Brooks reports that Hayes and the Rangers are not close to a long-term extension.

According to Brooks, little progress has been made between the two sides in recent weeks and with Hayes’ hearing scheduled for Thursday, August 2nd, it seems the best case scenario now is a one- or two-year deal negotiated post hearing, while the more likely result is simply accepting the one-year award. Hayes is believed to be seeking between $5.5MM and $6MM per year on a long-term contract, which Brooks believes he could get on the open market. However, the Rangers don’t seem likely to make a commitment of that magnitude for Hayes and that might be a good call. The 26-year-old is a well-rounded center, but the Rangers are deep down the middle – for now – and Hayes has yet to crack 50 points in a season through four NHL campaigns and could regress from many of the career-high marks he set last season.

However, this still adds a new obstacle to the Rangers’ rebuild. A one-year contract for Hayes would make him an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season and thus a major trade deadline piece should New York struggle again in 2018-19. He would join Mats Zuccarello and possibly Spooner as impending free agents next summer who would be likely trade bait. The only problem is that trio could also be among the Rangers’ top scorers next season and could set the rebuild back even further if they end up making progress during the campaign, only to be dealt for picks and prospects. The Rangers rebuild was never going to be neat and tidy given their current composition, but after a smooth off-season to this point, Hayes is the first obstacle that signals some difficult choices coming up for New York.

Jason Zucker Agrees To Terms On Five-Year Contract With Minnesota Wild

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The Minnesota Wild and Jason Zucker have finally found some common ground, agreeing to terms on a five-year contract worth $27.5MM. Zucker was scheduled for arbitration on July 28th, but instead will be locked up at a $5.5MM cap hit for the next five seasons. The year-by-year breakdown is as follows:

  • 2018-19: $5.0MM
  • 2019-20: $6.25MM
  • 2020-21: $4.8MM
  • 2021-22: $6.25MM
  • 2022-23: $5.2MM

Zucker, 26, experienced a breakout season at exactly the right time in his career to maximize his earning potential. After three strong but not outstanding campaigns, Zucker exploded for 33 goals and 64 points in 2017-18 while playing in all 82 games for the Minnesota Wild. Though some of that had to do with the success he found on the powerplay, Zucker still scored 25 goals at even-strength which tied him for 14th in the entire league alongside players like Tyler Seguin, Taylor Hall and Claude Giroux. With just one year remaining as a restricted free agent, the Wild needed to pay up to keep Zucker around or face a one-year arbitration decision and potentially losing him next summer to unrestricted free agency.

What they’ve accomplished by keeping Zucker’s cap hit to $5.5MM is potentially quite a bargain for the Wild, who could have one of the better even-strength producers in the league for a discounted price should he continue to play as well as he did last year. The five years at $5.5MM per season compares well with contracts like the ones given to Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller and even teammate Nino Niederreiter, none of whom have cracked 30 goals or 60 points in any season of their careers. While obviously each brings other talents to the table, Zucker should be able to easily produce enough to make the contract palatable as long as he doesn’t take a huge step backwards in the next few seasons.

That’s unlikely to really happen at any point in the contract given that the Wild have mostly locked up his late-twenties instead of early-thirties, giving them a chance to get out of the contract when a decline should be expected to start. Though they have other examples right in front of them like the continued brilliance of Eric Staal, the Wild haven’t taken on a ton of risk in this contract for Zucker, other than the fact they’re handing it out after a career season.

Still, there are some who might struggle to accept the offseason as a whole for Minnesota. After bringing in a new front office and GM with Paul Fenton, the team was expected to make some big changes to the core in order to try and go further in the playoffs and finally really compete for the Stanley Cup. Instead, they’ve handed out long-term contracts to Zucker and Mathew Dumba while failing to sign any real impact free agents outside of Greg Pateryn. With two big, long contracts still on the books with Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, the Wild will need some exceptional performances from some of their younger players while relying on repeat performances from Zucker and others.

Calgary Flames Avoid Arbitration With Mark Jankowski

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The Calgary Flames have settled on a two-year contract with Mark Jankowski, avoiding the arbitration process entirely. The deal will carry an average annual value of $1.675MM. Jankowski was scheduled to have an arbitration hearing on Friday, but will no longer need to go through it.

Jankowski, 23, played his first full season in the NHL in 2017-18, and rewarded the Flames’ patience with 17 goals. Selected in the first round of the 2012 draft, he’d previously played just a single game in the NHL and looked like he might never become the powerful two-way center that Calgary had hoped for. Now that future looks bright again and he’ll head into next season fighting for a role on the third line. The team did bring in Derek Ryan to help out their center depth, but Jankowski has a much greater upside with his big frame and scoring ability.

That upside could be a huge factor for the Flames this season if they’re going to get back to the playoffs and compete for the Stanley Cup. Even with outstanding seasons from the top duo of Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, the team didn’t have enough secondary scoring or defensive unity to compete in the Pacific Division. Jankowski, along with newcomers like Elias Lindholm and James Neal, should bring an added punch to the forward group that will allow them to score with anyone in the west, while also being stable enough in their own end to help Mike Smith post another good season.

The two-year deal will carry Jankowski to age 25, at which point he will still be a restricted free agent. Technically he could qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agency, but only needs seven more games played to become ineligible. Instead, he’ll be trying to sign a long-term deal that pays him like the first-round pick he was, and solidifies him as the team’s third center option behind Monahan and Mikael Backlund.

Tucker Poolman, Marko Dano Re-Sign With Winnipeg Jets

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The Winnipeg Jets have locked up one of their depth defensemen, signing Tucker Poolman to a three-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $775K and take Poolman right through to unrestricted free agency in 2021. The team has also re-signed Marko Dano to a one-year $800K contract, crossing out another one of their arbitration eligible restricted free agents. Dano was scheduled for an arbitration hearing on July 30th, but will now not need to travel to Toronto for the meeting.

Though Poolman and Dano both had to get new contracts, the Jets still have a remarkable number of restricted free agents left to sign this summer. Josh Morrissey, Nicolas Kerdiles, J.C. Lipon, Nic Petan and Eric Comrie are all still sitting without contracts. None of those four are scheduled for arbitration though, giving the team some respite from the ticking clock that the hearings brought.

The 25-year old Poolman only played in 24 games with the Jets this season, but also wasn’t given the opportunity to develop in the minor leagues. The former University of North Dakota standout served as the extra man on many nights, something that he may have to suffer through again in 2018-19. When Morrissey is signed, the Jets will have eight defensemen signed to one-way contracts, with Poolman earning the lowest amount of the group. Perhaps he’s fine with the role he’s been given though, as a three-year deal is longer than many expected. It actually buys out a year of unrestricted free agency, but gives Poolman barely a raise on the minimum NHL salary.

For Dano, this may be one of his last chances to prove that he’s an NHL regular. After being selected in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets five years ago, Dano has failed to secure a full-time spot in three different organizations and played only 23 games for the Jets last season. He’ll turn 24 this November and with 45 points in 130 career games, there may not be another one-way contract waiting for him in free agency next summer.

Full 2018 Arbitration Hearing Schedule

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Almost four dozen players decided to file for salary arbitration this summer, and while some of them have already been signed to contracts many others now know when their hearing will take place. The NHLPA released the full schedule of hearings, spread out from July 20th to August 4th.  Remember that players can sign up until an arbitrator awards a contract, including in the short window after the hearing.

July 20

Jacob Trouba – Team filing: $4.0MM, Player filing: $7.0MM. Awarded one-year, $5.5MM contract.

July 23

Brett Kulak – Team filing: $650K, two-way contract, Player filing: $1.15MM, one-way contract. Awarded one-year, $850K contract.

July 24

Brandon Montour – Team filing: $1.5MM, Player filing: $4.5MM Settled before hearing, two years $6.775MM

July 30

Garnet Hathaway – Team filing: $650K, Player filing: $975K Settled before hearing, one-year $850K

August 1

Cody Ceci – Team filing: $3.35MM, Player filing $6.0MM. Awarded one-year, $4.3MM contract.
Gemel Smith – Team filing: two-way contract, Player filing: $900K. Awarded one-year one-way, $720K contract.

August 3

Mark Stone – Team filing: $5.0MM, Player filing $9.0MM Settled before hearing, one-year, $7.35MM

August 4

William Karlsson – Team filing: $3.5MM, Player filing $6.5MM

Behind The Scenes Of The Jacob Trouba Arbitration Case

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Arbitration cases rarely go through the hearing stage in the NHL, so for Jacob Trouba and the Winnipeg Jets to have reached this point in their negotiations – on the first scheduled day of hearing dates no less – is a major surprise. TSN’s Sara Orlesky reports that the two sides did in fact sit down for their hearing with the arbitrator and that a decision will be handed down in the next 48 hours. The Jets and Trouba have until that decision is made to agree to a deal on their own terms, likely a long-term extension, otherwise they will be stuck with a one-year deal and have to go through the process once again next summer.

So what exactly did it look like in the hearing today? Likely not what many would think. While the player and team are present during presentations to the arbitrator, neither team executives nor the player’s representation are in charge of arguing the case. The NHL Players’ Association handles the player side, while the teams use one of three lawyers to present their side: Dan Rabinowitz and Andre Nowakowski of Miller-Thomson in Toronto or Andre Lepage of BFC in Montreal. Each side makes their case based on briefs that they have previously filed to both the opposing side and the arbitrator, bringing in exhibits to support their arguments as well. The briefs contain the salary figures sought; the Jets reportedly filed at $4MM and Trouba at $7MM. It is a wide spread for the abitrator to consider and he may decide at or in between those figures.

What is the content of the arguments? Also somewhat contrary to what one may think, the two sides spend little time actually arguing the merits of the player, at least in absolute terms. The backbone of a salary arbitration case is the comparable players. For Trouba, the NHLPA would generally have comparable players that make $7MM or more to show that their filing number is fair, while the team reps will use comparable players around $4MM or less to prove their value. Each side will identify strengths or weaknesses to the player and find comparables that they can use to strengthen those points. The use of concrete search criteria to choose comparable players is key and often results in both sides tweaking their criteria ever so much that it includes only player who benefit their case. There are also rules regarding the players used: they must be current contracts, they must be recent contracts, and they must be contracts signed by a player who was or would have been an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent. Any deviation from this criteria would seriously injure the persuasiveness of the use of that comparable player. Other things that cannot be considered are off-ice behavior, even including something like Trouba’s previous contract holdout, or the team’s salary cap or roster depth status, which the Jets wish they could use in this case.

So who might be comparables in the Trouba case? The filing numbers for both sides suggest that there could be a wide range of possibilities. Using only the most basic metrics – games played and points-per-game – players like Justin Schultz, Colton Parayko, and Tyson Barrie lie right in the middle of the two values at $5.5MM and either side might struggle to use them effectively. Unfortunately for the NHLPA, those appear to be their best options. The case for any might be percentage of the salary cap rather than actual salary, given the major jump this off-season. Players like Torey Krug, Jared Spurgeon, Sami Vatanen and Dmitry Orlov would favor the Jets slightly more, but their home run option is likely a player like David Savard at $4.25MM.

After all the comparables have been presented, arguments have been made, and rebuttals and closing comments have been heard, the arbitrator will take his time to make the decision on just how much Trouba is worth based on everything he has witnessed. During that time, the two sides – who have also been enlightened to some extent – also come back together and talk contract terms. In recent years, hearings have more often than not led to independent agreements and not official decisions. Will it be the same for Jacob Trouba and the Winnipeg Jets? We will know soon enough.

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