Today, Alex Killorn and Vladislav Namestnikov filed for arbitration just ahead of the 5:00 PM deadline.
Filing for arbitration in no way is a bad thing. It simply provides a deadline to get a deal done. Now the two restricted free agents are guaranteed to have a contract in place prior to training camp.
Erik Erlendsson tells us:
Killorn is coming off a season in which he had a salary cap hit of $2.5 million (actual salary was $2.7 million) while Namestnikov was on a one-year deal with a salary of $874,125.
And just to get this out of the way as quick as possible, Nikita Kucherov does not have arbitration rights, so he’s not eligible to file for arbitration. So before anybody asks 😉
To put in hopefully in the simplest terms, arbitration is like a court case. The two sides make their cases and argue in front of an independent arbitrator who listens to both sides and then comes back with a ruling on a new contract. Since the players opted to file for arbitration, the team can elect for either a one-year or a two-year contract award. But the arbitrator will decided on what the salary will be, within a submitted range.
The arbitrators ruling is binding and both sides must abide by the decision.
Dates for hearings this year – a total of 24 players filed for arbitration – are scheduled to take place between July 20 and August 4. Each case will be given a date to be announced.
Both sides will continue to negotiate towards a new deal. Both sides are aware of the comparable salaries. Finding common ground is not hard and so few cases are actually decided by the arbiter.
(Photos/Christine Gunn)
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