Mangiapane, Bratt lead list of 24 players who elect salary arbitration

Scott Maxwell
Scott Maxwell
Mangiapane, Bratt lead list of 24 players who elect salary arbitration

The NHLPA announced the list of 24 restricted free agents who have elected salary arbitration on Sunday evening.

With this, the players have the option to have an arbitration hearing if the player and their respective team are unable to reach an agreement by the time of their hearing, which will occur between July 27th and August 11th this year. This process is usually just a formality, and the two parties often reach an agreement before the hearing.

Should they require the hearing, both parties will meet before a neutral arbitrator with a specific salary that they want, or in the case of the team, what they think the player is worth. They will then present their case to the arbitrator, who will then use that, as well as contract comparables, to determine the salary of the player.

If the salary comes in at a number over $4,538,958, the team has the option to walk away from the contract, and the player goes to unrestricted free agency. If it’s a two year contract over $4,538,958, the club has the option to walk away from the second year, making them a UFA after year 1. The team is also given a second buyout window in the event that they need to buy out another contract to be cap compliant.

The list of players electing salary arbitration this year consists of Isac Lundestrom (Anaheim Ducks); Lawson Crouse (Arizona Coyotes); Pavel Zacha (Boston Bruins); Oliver Kylington, Andrew Mangiapane, and Matthew Phillips (Calgary Flames); Ethan Bear and Maxime Lajoie (Carolina Hurricanes); Jake Walman (Detroit Red Wings); Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto (Edmonton Oilers); Yakov Trenin (Nashville Predators); Jesper Bratt, Tyce Thompson, and Vitek Vanecek (New Jersey Devils); Mathieu Joseph (Ottawa Senators); Zack MacEwen (Philadelphia Flyers); Kasperi Kapanen (Pittsburgh Penguins); Kaapo Kahkonen and Steven Lorentz (San Jose Sharks); Morgan Geekie (Seattle Kraken); Niko Mikkola (St. Louis Blues); Keegan Kolesar (Vegas Golden Knights); and Mason Appleton (Winnipeg Jets). Mikkola and the Blues reached an agreement earlier on Sunday after filing, with a one year contract and a $1.9 million cap hit.

What is more interesting is some of the players who didn’t elect for salary arbitration. Matthew Tkachuk (Flames), Patrik Laine (Columbus Blue Jackets), and Pierre-Luc Dubois (Jets) all decided against arbitration. Laine is rumoured to be contemplating taking his qualifying offer, which would give him a $7.5 million salary for one year before he becomes a UFA. Dubois has been in trade talks this offseason, and has also expressed interest in becoming a UFA in 2024, so there may be more interest in negotiating with a different team, or signing a two-year deal there.

The deadline for club-elected salary arbitration is July 18th at 5 p.m. ET.

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