The impact of arbitration

[toshiro]

Al Strachan on Slam this morning
"You probably can't afford to keep them, and even if you could, the salary cap won't let you. And these are players you drafted five, six or seven years ago, so you've just wasted all that time trying to build through the draft.

You have no choice but to let them walk away.

It has happened twice in the past few days. It's going to happen a lot more in the future."


Ratcheting will have arbitrators looking at deals like Havlat as full market value and thats what counts baby. All players are closer to being free agents in terms of cost earlier.

[ti-vite]

How many team right now can afford a player wanting 5-6 M$?

Not many, most of the money has been spent already, most teams right up against the cap or own targets.

I am curious to see what happens to Dumont...

[Marksman]

Salary cap just means GMs have to become more careful how they sign players. Having too many RFAs can really hurt if your team has a good year - Sabres are lucky if Dumont is the only player they lose. On the other hand giving players to big longterm contracts can really limit the flexibility. Hopefully the cap comes down again for next season ... NHL is so much more exiting when playing field is level for everyone.

[AH]

Some RFAs with arb rights are more expensive than similar players who are UFA (and only a year or two older).

That is f-ed up.

[coolguy21415]

I think we'll see the NHL move arbitration up to earlier in the offseason. I don't know if the timing is set in the CBA, but it could be something to be addressed in several years, given the increased importance of arbitration. As it stands, teams are hindered solely because of the timing. Teams should be able to fill their rosters with UFAs after the arbitration hearings have been done. i.e. UFA players to replace RFA arbitration rejections.

[toshiro]

Originally Posted by Marksman

Salary cap just means GMs have to become more careful how they sign players. Having too many RFAs can really hurt if your team has a good year - Sabres are lucky if Dumont is the only player they lose. On the other hand giving players to big longterm contracts can really limit the flexibility. Hopefully the cap comes down again for next season ... NHL is so much more exiting when playing field is level for everyone.

To level the playing field Montreal would have to have better weather, better taxes, better press and a welcoming of non francophones attitude.

[toshiro]

Originally Posted by AH

Some RFAs with arb rights are more expensive than similar players who are UFA (and only a year or two older).

That is f-ed up.

Exactly!

[CaptCrunch]

On the arbitration, I think the process is going to force a lot of teams to make better efforts at building cases.

I think its not a stretch to think that some teams will have access to better deal through arbitration because they are more skilled at presenting their cases.

While other teams will pay through their nose because they've been crushed in court by experienced agents.